Sister of St. Joseph Mary Paul Geck died March 9, 2014, at 95.
She entered the congregation in 1935 from Ss. Peter and Paul, Rochester. She completed Nazareth Normal School in 1939 and earned a BE in 1945 and an MS in elementary education in 1955, both from Nazareth College in Pittsford.
She taught at Rochester’s Corpus Christi, St. Monica, Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis Xavier, Immaculate Conception and St. Anthony, where she also was principal; and St. Mary, Waterloo. She taught and principal at St. Anthony, Rochester, and St. Elizabeth School in Selma, Ala., where she also was principal. She served in Selma during the 1960s and joined in the struggle for voting rights for African-Americans. After serving in Alabama, she returned to Immaculate Conception, then served as principal and superior at St. Paul, Oswego.
From 1972-74, she was pastoral assistant at St. Anthony, Rochester, and then became assistant to the congregational secretary general. She then became secretary general until 1991. For the next 12 years Sister Geck worked as the coordinator of funeral services for the congregation and supported the secretarial staff in many ways until her retirement in 2011.
She is survived by her nieces, Marsha (Jeff) Lewis and Cheryl (Thomas) Mercendetti; her cousins, Mary Ellen (Charlie) Steele and Richard (JoAnn) Cary; her good friend, Syracuse Bishop Robert J. Cunningham; and her sisters in the congregation.
Her funeral liturgy was celebrated at the motherhouse chapel on March 14, 2014, with burial in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph Ministry Fund, 150 French Road, Rochester, NY 14618.
Tags: Religious Orders
