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Obituary
SISTER M. CELESTE (Mary Lee) LYNCH, SAC
a member of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, died Sunday, December 2,
2012, at the age of 88, at St. Mary's Convent Infirmary in Huntington, W.Va.
She was born to Maurice A. and Minnie Ann Trent Lynch on June 19, 1924, in
Bristol, Tenn. She is survived by sisters Veronica Ferski of Bristol,
Virginia and Barbara Booher of Bristol, Tenn, and two brothers Maurice, and
his wife Wanda of Bristol, Tenn, and Patrick and his wife Thelma, of
Huntsville, Ala., and several neices and nephews. She was preceded in death
by two brothers: Thomas of Bristol, Tenn,, and James of Nashville, Tenn.
Sr. Celeste entered the Pallottine Missionary Sisters on February 14, 1945.
In her early years as a nurse, Sister served at St. Mary’s Hospital and
Sacred Heart Hospital in Richwood, W.Va. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in
Nursing from St. Louis University. She earned her Master’s in Nursing
Education from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1963,
and a Masters in Spirituality from Creighton University in 1978.
She was Director of St. Mary’s School of Nursing from 1959-1976, where she
loved serving the students and sharing her love for the nursing profession.
She was then asked to spend the next ten years helping to form young women
to deepen their Christian commitment and become Pallottine Missionary
Sisters.
Sister was elected as Provincial Superior for the next nine years and served
on St. Mary’s Medical Center Board, St. Joseph’s Hospital Board (Buckhannon,
W.Va.) and St. Vincent Pallotti High School Board in Laurel, Md. She was
President of Pallottine Health Services, Inc. (1988-2012),
On-Going Formation Director, Director of Temporary Professed Sisters, SMMC
Foundation Board, and Ultimate Health Board.
As Provincial, she traveled to Rome, met John Paul II, and visited our other
provinces in Poland, Belize and South Africa. Being of Irish descent, she
realized that dream of visiting that country on a special trip with her
brother, Pat.
Sister was an outstanding leader and helped envision what St. Mary’s Medical
Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon are today. She was named The
Herald-Dispatch 2012 Citizen of the Year for Community Impact and was
awarded a place on St. Mary’s Medical Center’s Wall of Fame in 2012. Sr.
Celeste Lynch will be remembered for the values that she promulgated for
Pallottine Health Services: compassion, hospitality, reverence,
interdependence, stewardship, and trust. Her religious sisters will remember
her as the face of hope and joy. She served the people of the Tri-State as a
Pallottine Sister for more than 65 years.
Visitation will be at St. Mary’s Medical Center Chapel from 2–7 p.m.,
Wednesday, December 5, 2012, and the Mass of Resurrection will be on
Thursday, December 6, 2012, at Our Lady of Fatima Church at 10:30 a.m. In
lieu of flowers, a memorial gift may be made to the Pallottine Missionary
Sisters retirement fund or the Pallotti Fund through Pallottine Health
Services, Inc.
“In all the years I have been privileged to serve, I have learned one thing:
the happiest people are those who give.” Sr. Celeste Lynch, SAC
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