Sister Mary Sylvester HANAN

HANAN, FRENCH, BAIE, HERSH, HANSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/18/2009 at 12:11:39

Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA)
November 30, 2000

Sister Mary Sylvester Hanan RSM, 86, died Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2000, in Queen of Angels Health Center, Sacred Heart Convent, Cedar Rapids, after a long and faith-filled life. Services: 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, by the Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial: Mount Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. today at the chapel, where a wake service begins at 7. Arrangements by Stewart Funeral Home.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Sylvester is survived by several nephews, Robert and Dwayne French of Marion, Norris Baie of State Center and Brian Hersh of Santa Barbara, Calif. Sister was preceded in death by her parents, a sister and two stepsisters.

Sister Mary Sylvester was born March 1, 1914, in Hazleton, Iowa, the daughter of Percival and Nellie Hanson Hanan. She entered the Cedar Rapids Community of the Sisters of Mercy on June 20, 1932, and professed perpetual vows on June 24, 1938. Sister Mary Sylvester received her teacher's certificate in music in Montana, her B.A. degree from Loras College in Dubuque and her M.A. degree from the University of Iowa. She also attended the American Conservatory at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Ind. Sister's ministry was music. Though she had a reverence for all music, her favorite was jazz. For 46 years, she shared her love of music through teaching at the following Iowa schools: St. John and Sacred Heart in Waterloo, Immaculate Conception in Elma, St. John in Clarion, St. Patrick in Anamosa and St. Wenceslaus and All Saints in Cedar Rapids. She also taught music at St. Matthew School in Kalispell, Mont. From 1969 to 1979, she was music instructor at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. Sister served as a receptionist at Mercy Medical Center from 1979 to 1981, before retiring to the convent. Memorials may be sent to Sisters of Mercy, 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.