Sister Mary Celine Zetah RSM

Sister Mary Celine Zetah, RSM

Sister Mary Celine Zetah died on March 13, at the age of 101 at Marian Oaks Life Center in Burlingame. Born in Olivia, Minnesota, she was the third oldest of the twelve children of Frank Zetah and Mary Kodet Zetah. Baptized Muriel, she grew up on a farm, attended a one-room elementary school, and shared farm chores with her siblings. A few years after graduating from the local high school, she followed her older sister Doris to California. It was during a spiritual retreat that she was counseled to consider life in a religious congregation. After being introduced to the Sisters of Mercy in Los Angeles, she and her sister entered the community in Burlingame in January of 1944. She took the religious name Sister Mary Celine, and her sister became Sister Mary Leona. They professed their vows in August of 1946. Sister Mary Celine spent the next six years on the staff at St. Joseph's Military Academy in Belmont. In 1954 Sister began a 24 year ministry in education, teaching primary grades at St. Anthony's School, Oakland; St. Gabriel and Holy Name Schools, San Francisco; St. Catherine and Our Lady of Angels Schools, Burlingame; and schools in Bakersfield, Los Angeles and San Diego. She was for many years involved in the charismatic prayer movement, and moved from primary education into a ministry of communal prayer and healing touch. Sister spent the next few years at the Mercy House of Prayer in Chatsworth, and then at Mercy Center in Burlingame; in 1984 she completed a program in Clinical Pastoral Education at Mercy Hospital, San Diego. Then returning to Burlingame, she spent the next twenty-three years ministering in pastoral care, prayer groups and healing touch. Sister spent her last years at Marian Oaks Life Center. She will be remembered for her joyful, caring, and generous ministry of prayer, healing, and presence to many. Predeceased by Sister Mary Leona, Sister Mary Celine is survived by her brother Jerry Zetah, her large extended family, and her loving community of the Sisters of Mercy. A vigil service will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 25 at Marian Oaks Life Center, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame; the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 26 at 10:30 a.m. at Marian Oaks, followed by burial at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma. Memorial gifts may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, Ca 94010.