Sr. Mary Loretto Hunt, RSM

Sister Mary Loretto Hunt, RSM--in Auburn, CA, on January 11, 2017, at the age of 89. Born in San Francisco, Marilyn Hunt was the younger of the two children of John R. Hunt and Margaret Ryan Hunt. Young Marilyn grew up in St. Peter’s Parish in San Francisco, attending the parish elementary school and graduating from the parish high school, both schools staffed by the Sisters of Mercy. She was a very outgoing and fun loving teenager who, after graduation in 1945 worked for the phone company for two years before entering the Sisters of Mercy in July of 1947. She professed vows in 1950, having taken the religious name of Sister Mary Loretto. Sister spent the next 32 years as a primary grade teacher at Our Lady of Angels School, Burlingame; St. Anthony’s School, Oakland; St. Gabriel School, Holy Name School, St. Peter’s School in San Francisco; Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Bakersfield; St. Pius X School, Santa Fe Springs; St. Bruno’s School, Whittier; and St. Thomas School in Los Angeles. Sister loved the children and became a reading specialist during these years, and she adjusted well to her frequent changes in location. Unfortunately, as the years went on, Sister Mary Loretto developed severe hearing loss and had to leave the classroom. For the next several years sister ministered as a counselor in a 12 step recovery program in Oakland, at Horizon Services in Santa Cruz, and Women’s Recovery Services in Burlingame. She also was a pastoral care minister to the sisters at Marian Retirement and Care Center in Burlingame for some of these years. Sister Mary Loretto was an attentive and caring listener, giving spiritual and psychological support to those to whom she ministered. By 2007 failing health made it necessary for Sister to retire Marian Care Center in Burlingame, and she spent her final years at Our Lady of Lourdes retirement convent with the Sisters of Mercy in Auburn, CA. Predeceased by her parents and her brother Jack, sister is survived by her sister-inlaw Alice Hunt, her niece Lin Hunt and nephews John, Robert and James Hunt, and her loving community of the Sisters of Mercy.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated at the Sisters of Mercy chapel in Auburn at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday, January 19, followed that evening by a welcoming service and vigil at 7:00 p.m. at Marian Oaks Life Center, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA. On Friday, January 20, at 11:00 a.m. a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated, followed by burial at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma. Memorial gifts may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010.