OBITUARY: Sister of St. Francis Mary Wilma enjoyed a special bond with Mother Marianne
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Sister Mary Wilma Halmasy had a special connection with Blessed Marianne Cope.
Born three years after Mother Marianne died, she followed in her footsteps, becoming a Sister of St. Francis on the 100th anniversary year of her predecessor’s birth.
Sister Wilma, as she liked to be called, served in Kalaupapa as Blessed Marianne did, and for about the same number of years. Last year, she attended her beatification in Rome.
She even wore the same old-fashioned habit as Mother Marianne, her cheerful white-framed face centered within the familiar parabola of a black veil.
Sister Wilma joined Mother Marianne on June 24, dying at age 85 in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Franciscan Sisters September newsletter described her funeral: “On the quiet morning of June 27, 2006, the funeral procession of Sister Wilma slowly drove out of the Motherhouse gates. The many family members and the community members that were part of the procession were a testament of this small woman who was larger than life. Her eyes spoke of her gift of compassion and of her artistic quality that she beheld. Her love of beauty, song and nature were a part of her being. As a nurse, she was a treasure to the sick and suffering of Molokai. This was her paradise.”
Sister Wilma was born Lillian Halmasy to Julius and Mary Baumgartner Halmasy, both Hungarian immigrants, in Lorain, Ohio, on Feb. 9, 1921.
She entered the convent from her home parish of St. Mary, in Akron, Ohio, on Sept. 8, 1937, was invested as a Sister of St. Francis of Syracuse on April 28, 1938, and made her final vows on Aug. 20, 1943. She took the religious name Mary Wilma.
Sister Wilma served as a nurse from 1939 to 1989, working in three hospitals and a rest home in New York and at St. Francis Hospital in Honolulu and Bishop Home in Kalaupapa. She had three Kalaupapa assignments, her first beginning in 1946. Her last was a 15-year stretch as supervisory nurse ending in 1989. In all, she spent about 30 years on Molokai.
She returned to Syracuse in 1989 to minister at St. Francis Adult Day Care until she retired to Jolenta Convent.
Sister Wilma joined the delegation of Sisters of St. Francis from Syracuse who attended the May 14, 2005, beatification of Mother Marianne Cope in Rome.
In 1988, on her 50th anniversary as a religious she wrote, “the most important thing which I continue to value is being able to follow in the footsteps of Mother Marianne and Father Damien for more than half of my religious life.”
To those who would follow in her footsteps, she offered this advice: “If you take the step, then give your all.”
Her funeral was June 26 at St. Anthony Motherhouse Chapel in Syracuse. She was buried the next day in Assumption Cemetery.