Sister Mary Mark, FSP 1941-2021

Sister Mary Mark Wickenhiser, a Daughter of St. Paul for 63 years, died suddenly in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, on Sept. 4, 2021. Born Margaret Wickenhiser in September of 1941, she was the youngest of six siblings, all of whom were raised in South Buffalo by their parents, the late Leo and Catherine (Rodkey) Wickenhiser.  The family belonged to St. Martin of Tours Parish. 

Sister Mary Mark was a student at Mount Mercy Academy prior to entering the Daughters of St. Paul in Jamaica Plains in August of 1958. She made her perpetual profession in 1966.

Sister Mary Mark was educated in theological, spiritual and pastoral fields in view of writing and editing catechetical texts. She served in several capacities in the publishing world of the Daughters of St. Paul culminating with her appointment as director of the Publishing House, a position that she held for more than 10 years.  She also served as the superior of congregational houses in New Orleans and St. Louis, and as provincial superior.

Surviving Sister Mary Mark are her brother, Charles J. of Clarence, and her sisters: Mary Lou Schulz of Orchard Park, Sister Mary David, FSP, of Jamaica Plains, and Lorraine Sheehan of Mount Dora, Florida. Sister Mary Mark was predeceased by her brother Leon.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at the motherhouse of the Daughters of St. Paul on Sept. 10 with Sister Mary Mark’s grandnephew, Father Zachariah Presutti, SJ, as a concelebrant.

Her religious community remembered Sister Mary Mark as “a woman of deep prayer, with a very perceptive mind and a great love for the Church and the Faith.”