Sr. Margaret Mary, OCD: ‘A faithful disciple of Christ’

Friday, Sep. 05, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — Carmelite Sister Margaret Mary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who died Aug. 27, was recalled as “a faithful disciple of Christ” by Bishop Oscar A. Solis, who presided at her funeral Mass on Aug. 30 at the Carmelite monastery chapel in Salt Lake City.

Sister Margaret Mary, a founding member of the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Salt Lake City, was in the 80th year of her religious life. 

On October 28, 1945, at age 18, she entered the Discalced Carmelite nuns’ monastery in Alhambra, Calif. At the age of 25, she and a group of other nuns from that monastery came to Salt Lake City at the invitation of the Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt, fifth Bishop of Salt Lake City. “Here she faithfully served the community in many functions, such as sacristan, kitchen provisor, sub-prioress and prioress,” stated her obituary. “She loved Holy Mother St. Teresa and had great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and, of course, her patron saint, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. Her great zeal to offer her intercessory prayer for the Catholic Church in Utah as a cloistered Carmelite nun helped enkindle her faith in building up this Carmel in Utah along with her fellow nuns. As a Carmelite nun, Sister knew it was hard, but it was all for the love of God.”

Concelebrants at the funeral Mass were Father Sebastian Chacko, in residence at Saint Francis Xavier Parish; Father Michael Augustine Amabisco, OP, chaplain for the Skaggs Catholic Center Schools; and Monsignor Joseph M. Mayo and Father Martin Diaz, both retired priests of the diocese. Deacon Lynn Johnson assisted.

In his homily, Bishop Solis asked those gathered to give thanks to God for the blessing of Sr. Margaret Mary’s life, the gift of faith and the gift of eternal life.

The nun accepted the invitation of Christ to follow him and “totally surrendered to God” by entering the Carmelite order, the bishop said, adding that this “allowed God to use her as an instrument to carry out his divine plan of salvation of all people.” 

She “lived her vows with such fidelity, commitment and joy,” Bishop Solis said. “She poured out her life in prayer, reflection, good works for you and me, and for many others – offering everything to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”  

If she could speak to those at the funeral, “I believe she would remind us that life is a precious gift from God,” the bishop said. “Life is entrusted to us for a very short time and then we return to God.”

Although saddened by the death of “a Carmelite nun who gave and dedicated her life in prayer, love, sacrifice and service to God, to the Church and to us, the people of God in Utah … our faith in God brings us comfort and consolation, knowing that the love of Christ is the love that inspired and empowered Sister Margaret,” the bishop said.

At the end of his homily, Bishop Solis addressed the nuns in the cloister, saying he spoke on behalf of the clergy and people of God in Utah as he extended his sympathy for their loss.

The Mass ended with bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” as the casket was carried out of the chapel. Then the other nuns came from the cloister; those gathered joined them in singing “Salve Regina.”

At the vigil the night before the funeral Mass, Father Andre Sicard, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, also gave thanks “to God for her life, for her almost 80 years of consecrated religious life, a witness to the faith that she had in God, that we might learn from her example as we pray for her that God may welcome her into paradise.” 

Among those attending the vigil was Father Adrian Komar, pastor of Saint Thomas More Parish.

Sr. Margaret Mary was born Roseanne Margaret Miller on October 14, 1927 in Omaha, Neb. She had one older brother and one younger sister.

Only five days after she was born, her mother, brother and she took the train to Los Angeles, where her father had gone ahead to prepare a home for them, according to her obituary. Two years later, the family moved to Glendale. She attended Holy Family parish school.

Around age 72, Sister Margaret Mary’s health began to decline, but the good Lord blessed her with a very sharp mind until the day she died, two months shy of her 98th birthday, according to her obituary. She died from a complication of a stroke that she suffered on July 9 of this year.  

She is survived by her nephews Richard and Dennis Kryzer of California; and her religious family, the Carmelite nuns of Salt Lake City.

Interment was at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Salt Lake City.