CHASE, Sister Mary Charlene, RSM 1938-2018

CHASE, YOUNGBLUT

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 5/15/2018 at 15:26:54

SISTER MARY CHARLENE CHASE RSM
Cedar Rapids

Sister Mary Charlene Chase, RSM, 80, died Friday, May 13, 2018, at the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha after a brief illness. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 16, at the Sacred Heart Chapel by the Rev. Jim Brokman. Burial will be at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at the chapel with a wake service at 6:30 p.m. Arrangements are with Teahen Funeral Home.

Sister Mary Charlene was born May 4, 1938, in Fairbank, Iowa, the daughter of Charles and Margaret (Youngblut) Chase. She attended St. John's School in Waterloo and graduated from Sacred Heart School, in Waterloo in 1957. She entered the Cedar Rapids Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in 1957.

Sister Mary Charlene received a B.S. degree in biology with a minor in elementary education from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids in 1962. Sister Charlene's first ministry was middle school education. From 1962 to 1980, she taught in the following Iowa parochial schools: St. Matthew School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Immaculate Conception School in Elma, Iowa; St. Patrick's School in Fairfax, Iowa; St. Benedict's School in Decorah, Iowa; All Saints School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; St. Joseph's School in DeWitt, Iowa; and St. Patrick's School in Anamosa, Iowa, where she served as principal from 1980 to 1985.

Upon her retirement in 1998, Sister Mary Charlene was commissioned to the ministry of prayer. Sister Mary Charlene volunteered at Mercy Medical Center from 1998 to 2000 in the medical records department. Additionally, she volunteered at Sacred Heart Convent and was a companion to several Sisters residing at Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids until the time of her death. Sister Mary Charlene was known for her deep belief in prayer and her love of reading. Sister Mary Charlene was preparing to celebrate her 60th year as a vowed member of the Sisters of Mercy this June.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Charlene is survived by her nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Margaret Chase; and siblings Charles and Louis Chase.

Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy, 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.