Sister Angelita
Margaret Mary Myerscough 1921 - 2013
The daughter of John & Lee Myerscough nee Brown
Margaret was born on 27 May 1921 and was Christened 5 June 1921 at St Patrick's Church Ruma Illinois USA
Adorers of the Blood of Christ
The ASC Mission Center
4233 Sulphur St. Louis, MO 63109
Leadership: 314-351-6294, 314-351-6789 (fax) www.adorers.org
Sr. Angelita Myerscough,
ASC,: Educator, Historian, Author, Leader, Innovator dies at age 92.
Sister Angelita Myerscough, ASC died from a stroke on Thursday, July 18, 2013 at the ASC Ruma Center.
Born in Ruma, Illinois on May 27, 1921, Margaret Mary was the youngest daughter
of John and Lee (Brown) Myerscough.
She made first vows on July 1, 1937 and final profession on July 1, 1942.
She was 92 years old and had been an Adorer for 76 years.
Margaret Mary could have walked to the Ruma Convent when she entered in 1935, since her family lived very close to the provincial house and parish.
Taught by the Adorers in St. Patrick's one-room school next to the convent grounds, she entered shortly after the province had sent Sisters to China, a place where she wanted to serve as a missionary.
After finishing high school and making first vows in 1937, Sister Angelita began her teaching ministry, moving almost yearly to several parishes in southern Illinois where she taught grades 1 to 6, depending on the needs of the schools in East St. Louis (1938-1939), Olney (1939-1940), and Waterloo (1941- 1943).
With her degree in history from St. Louis University completed in 1944 she taught at St. Teresa Academy in East St. Louis and at Precious Blood Institute in Ruma.
Sent to Rome to study in 1954, she returned home on the ill-fated Andrea Doria in 1956 and lived to give talks on the harrowing experience and to attend reunions of the passengers. Although all her books, notes, and research on Precious Blood spirituality were at the bottom of the Atlantic, her mind and heart kept the knowledge and love of community history.
She taught at Precious Blood Institute and was director of the temporarily professed
Sisters from 1956 until 1959 when she began a doctoral program.
Sister Angelita's doctorate in theology from Catholic University, earned in 1962, served her well as teacher at St. Louis University's extension in Ruma and at the university itself where she was also executive secretary of the St. Louis Theological Consortium.
Her dissertation on the spirituality of Maria De Mattias was published as
Redemptive Encounter.
Appointed provincial in 1965, Sister Angelita was president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' in 1971 and skillfully negotiated the name change from Conference of Major Superiors of Women to LCWR to reflect the organization’s more inclusive membership.
Her wise leadership of the former Ruma province after Vatican II helped the Sisters navigate those turbulent waters through myriad opportunities for theological updating and personal growth.
As part of an international committee to revise the Constitutions, Sister Angelita was instrumental in a total reworking of the document to embody the spirit of St. Maria De Mattias and the efforts of the United States Adorers' committee to reflect the thinking of Vatican II. The Life Charter was published in Review for Religious in July, 1966.
Sister Angelita’s love for the universal Church motivated her to once again
stretch the former Ruma province beyond our country’s borders.
Missions in Liberia and Bolivia opened when she was provincial. Provincial assemblies, coordinators for health care, domestic service, and education were new administrative positions, habit changes, ongoing formation opportunities,
the return to baptismal names, and the closing of the high school at Ruma all developed during her years as provincial.
The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 galvanized the already firm commitment to work for racial justice in East St. Louis.
Her dedication to the congregation took her to Rome to attend nine general assemblies; she was elected to the general council in 1975.
She remained in Rome until 1988 when she returned to the Ruma area to serve as vice president for mission effectiveness for the ASC Health Services.
In 1995 she began translating St. Maria's letters and in 2006 finished the six-volume Letters:Maria De Mattias.
Her sister Florence Laurent (Bill—deceased) survives her, along with nephews George Skaggs and James Laurent, niece Laura Mae (Richard) Deterding, and community members. Her parents and sister Dorothy Skaggs preceded her in death.
The blessing of the body and wake service were held on Sunday, July 21 in the Ruma chapel. The Mass of Christian Burial was on Monday, July 22 with Rev. Clyde Grogan presiding and regional leader Sister Barbara Hudock, ASC, offering reflections.
The ASC Mission Center
4233 Sulphur St. Louis, MO 63109
Leadership: 314-351-6294, 314-351-6789 (fax) www.adorers.org
Sr. Angelita Myerscough,
ASC,: Educator, Historian, Author, Leader, Innovator dies at age 92.
Sister Angelita Myerscough, ASC died from a stroke on Thursday, July 18, 2013 at the ASC Ruma Center.
Born in Ruma, Illinois on May 27, 1921, Margaret Mary was the youngest daughter
of John and Lee (Brown) Myerscough.
She made first vows on July 1, 1937 and final profession on July 1, 1942.
She was 92 years old and had been an Adorer for 76 years.
Margaret Mary could have walked to the Ruma Convent when she entered in 1935, since her family lived very close to the provincial house and parish.
Taught by the Adorers in St. Patrick's one-room school next to the convent grounds, she entered shortly after the province had sent Sisters to China, a place where she wanted to serve as a missionary.
After finishing high school and making first vows in 1937, Sister Angelita began her teaching ministry, moving almost yearly to several parishes in southern Illinois where she taught grades 1 to 6, depending on the needs of the schools in East St. Louis (1938-1939), Olney (1939-1940), and Waterloo (1941- 1943).
With her degree in history from St. Louis University completed in 1944 she taught at St. Teresa Academy in East St. Louis and at Precious Blood Institute in Ruma.
Sent to Rome to study in 1954, she returned home on the ill-fated Andrea Doria in 1956 and lived to give talks on the harrowing experience and to attend reunions of the passengers. Although all her books, notes, and research on Precious Blood spirituality were at the bottom of the Atlantic, her mind and heart kept the knowledge and love of community history.
She taught at Precious Blood Institute and was director of the temporarily professed
Sisters from 1956 until 1959 when she began a doctoral program.
Sister Angelita's doctorate in theology from Catholic University, earned in 1962, served her well as teacher at St. Louis University's extension in Ruma and at the university itself where she was also executive secretary of the St. Louis Theological Consortium.
Her dissertation on the spirituality of Maria De Mattias was published as
Redemptive Encounter.
Appointed provincial in 1965, Sister Angelita was president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' in 1971 and skillfully negotiated the name change from Conference of Major Superiors of Women to LCWR to reflect the organization’s more inclusive membership.
Her wise leadership of the former Ruma province after Vatican II helped the Sisters navigate those turbulent waters through myriad opportunities for theological updating and personal growth.
As part of an international committee to revise the Constitutions, Sister Angelita was instrumental in a total reworking of the document to embody the spirit of St. Maria De Mattias and the efforts of the United States Adorers' committee to reflect the thinking of Vatican II. The Life Charter was published in Review for Religious in July, 1966.
Sister Angelita’s love for the universal Church motivated her to once again
stretch the former Ruma province beyond our country’s borders.
Missions in Liberia and Bolivia opened when she was provincial. Provincial assemblies, coordinators for health care, domestic service, and education were new administrative positions, habit changes, ongoing formation opportunities,
the return to baptismal names, and the closing of the high school at Ruma all developed during her years as provincial.
The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 galvanized the already firm commitment to work for racial justice in East St. Louis.
Her dedication to the congregation took her to Rome to attend nine general assemblies; she was elected to the general council in 1975.
She remained in Rome until 1988 when she returned to the Ruma area to serve as vice president for mission effectiveness for the ASC Health Services.
In 1995 she began translating St. Maria's letters and in 2006 finished the six-volume Letters:Maria De Mattias.
Her sister Florence Laurent (Bill—deceased) survives her, along with nephews George Skaggs and James Laurent, niece Laura Mae (Richard) Deterding, and community members. Her parents and sister Dorothy Skaggs preceded her in death.
The blessing of the body and wake service were held on Sunday, July 21 in the Ruma chapel. The Mass of Christian Burial was on Monday, July 22 with Rev. Clyde Grogan presiding and regional leader Sister Barbara Hudock, ASC, offering reflections.
