Sister Marietta McGannon, RSM

Sister Marietta died on March 15 at the age of 87 at Marian Oaks Life Center in Burlingame. The youngest of the five children of Matthew McGannon and Dorothy Richardson McGannon, Eleanor Jane was born in Chicago, Ill. The family moved to San Francisco when she was 9 years old and Eleanor attended Holy Name Grammar School where she met the Sisters of Mercy. She continued her education with the Mercy sisters through the 9th grade at Mercy High School in Burlingame. Her family then moved to Santa Rosa, where Eleanor completed high school at Ursuline Academy in 1950. That summer Eleanor entered the Sisters of Mercy and was professed in 1952 taking the religious name Sister Marietta. For the next 30 years Sister Marietta ministered in education teaching at St. Gabriel School, Holy Name School and St. Peter School in San Francisco; St. Anthony School Oakland; Our Lady of Angels and St. Catherine Schools in Burlingame; she was on the founding faculty of St. Bartholomew School San Mateo; and taught at schools in Bakersfield, Whittier, and San Diego. Sister also served for seven years as education coordinator for the Sisters of Mercy elementary schools. After spending a year in the spirituality program at Gonzaga University, followed by another year at the Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Chicago, Sister Marietta joined the staff at Mercy Center in Burlingame as a spiritual director and spirituality program coordinator. She did pastoral care service at the sisters’ retirement facility at Marian Oaks in Burlingame. In addition to her spiritual ministry, sister volunteered at the Sister Mary Philippa Clinic at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. In 2016 sister retired to Marian Oaks Life Center. She will be remembered for her quiet manner, her wisdom, compassion, and careful attention to those she served as both educator and spiritual director. Sister is survived by nieces, nephews, and cousins whom she held in love, and by her loving community of the Sisters of Mercy.

A vigil service will be held at Marian Oaks Life Center, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday March 31, and the Mass of Christian Burial on Monday, April 1, at 10:30 a.m. followed by burial in Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010.