In Loving Memory of Sister Mary Rita Nangle, CBS
Sister Mary Rita Nangle, CBS, died on Aug. 13 at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore from a brief illness. Born Norrien Kathleen Nangle in 1936 in Massachusetts, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours in 1955 and professed her final vows in 1964. She received her registered nurse’s degree from the Bon Secours School of Nursing in Baltimore in 1960 and went on for additional training to be a registered X-ray technician.
Sr. Mary Rita started her nursing career in Baltimore and went on to serve in Wildwood, New Jersey; Grosse Point, Michigan; Rosemont, Pennsylvania, where she was nursing supervisor and acting director at St. Edmond’s Home for Crippled Children; Darby, Pennsylvania, where she was assistant director of nursing at St. Francis Country House; Methuen, Massachusetts; and Marriottsville, Maryland, where she was the coordinator for Marian Hall. She returned to minister in Baltimore in 1990 as a patient advocate at Bon Secours Hospital and lived in walking distance of the West Baltimore hospital. She retired in 2011 and then volunteered as a patient visitor at the hospital until the last several weeks.
In addition to her patient care positions in the United States, she spent several years out of the country. Sr. Mary Rita went to Orleans, France, in the mid-1960s to prepare to go to a mission in Lere Chad, Africa. There, she cared for children who came from miles around to receive treatment at the government hospital. In the mid-1990s, Sr. Mary Rita felt called to Riobamba, Ecuador, where she spent a little more than a year as part of the Sisters of Bon Secours mission in the Riobamba Diocese.
On her 50th jubilee anniversary in 2005, Sr. Mary Rita said of her life, “God is a God of surprises, who has gifted me with graces and blessings that have enriched my life beyond my imagination. I never could have dreamed as a girl of 18 that I would be ministering to the sick and those in need not only in the U.S., but in France, Africa and Ecuador.”
Sr. Mary Rita was active throughout her years in the congregation and its health care facilities. She was a member of the board of trustees of Bon Secours Hospital, Bon Secours Hollins, Bennet Senior Housing in Baltimore and Bon Secours Hospital in Methuen as well as served on many congregation and hospital committees.
Sr. Mary Rita was well loved by the employees at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore and was very well known by the surrounding West Baltimore community. She was a constant presence of support, hope and goodness to all who saw her. She faithfully attended Mass in the hospital chapel and was a model of strength and compassion to the sick, elderly and disabled. She will be missed by so many, but her spirit will continue to walk the halls and the neighborhood as people remember her.
“The Sisters of Bon Secours have been blessed by Sr. Mary Rita’s generous and compassionate spirit for over 60 years; those gifts and her presence will be greatly missed,” said Sr. Rose Marie Jasinski, leader of the Sisters of Bon Secours, USA.
In addition to the Sisters of Bon Secours, her community, she is survived by her brother-in-law Raymond Morse and sister-in-law Ellen Nangle and many nieces and nephews.
A viewing will be held Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, from 4 to 8 p.m. with a wake service at 7 p.m. The Funeral Mass of Resurrection will be on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, at 11 a.m. Both will be held in the Sisters of Bon Secours Chapel at 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, MD 21104 (410-442-1333).
Donations can be made in Sr. Mary Rita Nangle’s name to The Sister Theophane Fund. This Fund carries out Bon Secours’ mission in West Baltimore by caring for employees and neighbors who are in dire need of emergency financial assistance. Contributions can be sent to Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Foundation at 2000 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21223.
Sr. Mary Rita started her nursing career in Baltimore and went on to serve in Wildwood, New Jersey; Grosse Point, Michigan; Rosemont, Pennsylvania, where she was nursing supervisor and acting director at St. Edmond’s Home for Crippled Children; Darby, Pennsylvania, where she was assistant director of nursing at St. Francis Country House; Methuen, Massachusetts; and Marriottsville, Maryland, where she was the coordinator for Marian Hall. She returned to minister in Baltimore in 1990 as a patient advocate at Bon Secours Hospital and lived in walking distance of the West Baltimore hospital. She retired in 2011 and then volunteered as a patient visitor at the hospital until the last several weeks.
In addition to her patient care positions in the United States, she spent several years out of the country. Sr. Mary Rita went to Orleans, France, in the mid-1960s to prepare to go to a mission in Lere Chad, Africa. There, she cared for children who came from miles around to receive treatment at the government hospital. In the mid-1990s, Sr. Mary Rita felt called to Riobamba, Ecuador, where she spent a little more than a year as part of the Sisters of Bon Secours mission in the Riobamba Diocese.
On her 50th jubilee anniversary in 2005, Sr. Mary Rita said of her life, “God is a God of surprises, who has gifted me with graces and blessings that have enriched my life beyond my imagination. I never could have dreamed as a girl of 18 that I would be ministering to the sick and those in need not only in the U.S., but in France, Africa and Ecuador.”
Sr. Mary Rita was active throughout her years in the congregation and its health care facilities. She was a member of the board of trustees of Bon Secours Hospital, Bon Secours Hollins, Bennet Senior Housing in Baltimore and Bon Secours Hospital in Methuen as well as served on many congregation and hospital committees.
Sr. Mary Rita was well loved by the employees at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore and was very well known by the surrounding West Baltimore community. She was a constant presence of support, hope and goodness to all who saw her. She faithfully attended Mass in the hospital chapel and was a model of strength and compassion to the sick, elderly and disabled. She will be missed by so many, but her spirit will continue to walk the halls and the neighborhood as people remember her.
“The Sisters of Bon Secours have been blessed by Sr. Mary Rita’s generous and compassionate spirit for over 60 years; those gifts and her presence will be greatly missed,” said Sr. Rose Marie Jasinski, leader of the Sisters of Bon Secours, USA.
In addition to the Sisters of Bon Secours, her community, she is survived by her brother-in-law Raymond Morse and sister-in-law Ellen Nangle and many nieces and nephews.
A viewing will be held Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, from 4 to 8 p.m. with a wake service at 7 p.m. The Funeral Mass of Resurrection will be on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, at 11 a.m. Both will be held in the Sisters of Bon Secours Chapel at 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, MD 21104 (410-442-1333).
Donations can be made in Sr. Mary Rita Nangle’s name to The Sister Theophane Fund. This Fund carries out Bon Secours’ mission in West Baltimore by caring for employees and neighbors who are in dire need of emergency financial assistance. Contributions can be sent to Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Foundation at 2000 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21223.