Sister Mary Martin AXEN

AXEN, MCNAMARA, BRUYERE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/12/2009 at 09:36:37

Sister Mary Martin Axen RSM, 88, died Sept. 30, 2006, at Hallmar Care Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mass of Resurrection: 10:30 a.m. Oct. 5, at Sacred Heart Chapel, with the Rev. Monsignor Karl L. Glovik as celebrant and homilist. Burial: Mount Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call at Sacred Heart from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, with a wake service held at 7 p.m. Arrangements by Stewart Funeral Home.

Sister Mary Martin was born Dec. 26, 1917, in Belmond, Iowa, the daughter of Alfred and Gertrude McNamara Axen. Sister was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Phillip, William and Father Ronald J. Axen. In addition to her Sisters of Mercy, she is survived by a nephew, Denis (Joan) Axen; and a niece, Patricia Bruyere.

Sister Mary Martin entered the Cedar Rapids Community of the Sisters of Mercy on Aug. 24, 1935, and professed perpetual vows on July 14, 1941. She received her bachelor's degree in music from De Paul University, Chicago. Sister also attended Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids; Loras College, Dubuque; Drake University, Des Moines; and Iowa State University, Ames, all in Iowa. She also attended the University of Minnesota and St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Ind. Sister's ministry was music and she took great joy in sharing it with others. She taught music in the following Iowa schools: St. John, Waterloo; St. Benedict, Decorah; St. Cecilia, Ames; Immaculate Conception, Charles City; Sacred Heart, Oelwein; and Immaculate Conception, Cedar Rapids. She also taught music at Our Lady of Grace School and Nativity School in Minneapolis, Minn. Sister was employed as a file clerk at the Pillsbury Co. in Minneapolis for a year before retiring to Crowley, Texas in 1988. She returned to Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids in 1995. Memorials may be sent to Sisters of Mercy, 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

The Gazette, Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA
October 3, 2006