Sister Paula Mary Aumen

Sister Paula Mary Aumen, 96, a member of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, died Monday, July 13, 2020, at Mercy Center, Dallas.

Born July 30, 1923, in York, she was baptized Rita Theresa Aumen and was the daughter of the late Bernard F. and Bertha Smith Aumen.

Sister Paula Mary graduated from St. Mary's High School in Wilkes-Barre and received a degree in elementary education from Misericordia University and her master's degree from the University of Scranton. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in Dallas on Sept. 8, 1943, and professed her vows on March 12, 1946.

During her years in ministry, Sister taught in the Dioceses of Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Altoona-Johnstown. Sister's years at Immaculate Conception Parish, New Oxford, and St. Vincent Parish, Hanover, were years she truly cherished. Those years of ministry provided Sister the opportunity to share time with her family who lived nearby. In 2013, Sister returned home to Mercy Center, Dallas, where she shared her gifts of organization and hospitality in the library.

Sister was an active member in the Prayer Ministry and continued to remember family and friends in daily prayer. Sister Paula Mary's passing is a great loss to all who knew her. Sister listened intently to the joys and sorrows of many and always offered encouragement and words of comfort. She was a deeply spiritual person whose faith and acceptance of life's twists and turns strengthened her for her years of service.

She was preceded in death by six siblings, Bernard F. Aumen Jr., the Rev. Paul J. Aumen, CPPS, Estella Gebhart, Philip Aumen, Terry DelRosso and Lawrence Aumen.

Surviving are four siblings, Thomas Aumen, Hamilton, Ohio; Bertha Kuhn, Abbottstown; Charlotte Hull, New Salem; and Adrian Aumen, Spring Grove; two sisters-in-law, Margaret and Nancy Aumen; her Sisters of Mercy; and numerous nieces and nephews whom she dearly loved.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Hanover, with her cousin, the Rev. Joseph Gotwalt, as celebrant.

Burial will follow in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Hanover.

Friends and relatives will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Murphy Funeral Home, 501 Ridge Ave., McSherrystown, with the rosary recited at 8 p.m.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the mass will be live streamed from the St. Vincent Church Facebook page (facebook@stdepaul), and the committal service in the cemetery on the Murphy Funeral Home Facebook page.

Contributions in memory of Sister Paula Mary may be made to Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Center, Dallas, PA 18612.

Condolences may be shared at www.murphyfuneralhomeinc.com.