Sister Miriam McCready

MARLBOROUGH Sister Miriam (Magdalen of the Assumption), RGS, (Mary Ethel McCready) died on July 14, 2008, at Marlborough Hospital, Marlborough, after a long illness. She was 88 years of age and had been a Sister of the Good Shepherd for 66 years. Sister Miriam was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Boulier) McCready. She went to the Richmond School in Halifax, N.S. Sister Miriam entered the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Halifax, N.S., in 1942. She wanted to live a cloistered life, one that was a life of work and prayer. She was missioned in Halifax, N.S., until 1972. Her community then moved to Windsor, Ontario. Sr. Miriam was one of the foundresses of the Belle River, Ontario, community which opened in 1992. Her ministries throughout her life included working in the altar bread room and making habits for the sisters. She was a very gifted seamstress. Her specialty was in embroidery with the altar linens. Sister Miriam sang in the choir as she had a lovely singing voice. She was a person who reached out to anyone who came to the door, very kind and caring and always had a smile for you. Sister remained in Canada until 2002, when her community was moved to Wolcott, Conn., but due to failing health she was missioned to Good Shepherd Center in Marlborough, to continue her ministry of prayer. Sister Miriam is survived by family in Nova Scotia, Canada; her sister, Evelyn McCready of Herring Cove, her sister-in-law, Edna McCready of Dartanouth, several nieces and nephews and all of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in the New York Province. Visiting hours at Good Shepherd Center Chapel, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, will be held on Wednesday, July 16, from 4 to 8 p.m. There will be a prayer service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at Good Shepherd Center Chapel, at 11 a.m., on Thursday, July 17. Burial will follow at the Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald and Collins Funeral Home ( www.sfcfh.com), 378 Lincoln St., Marlborough. Expressions of sympathy, in Sister Miriams memory, may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, MA 01752. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd, a world-wide congregation. was founded in France by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in 1835, in Boston, in 1867, in Marlborough, in 1964, and in Harwichport in 1993.