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February 24, 1924 - July 3, 2009.
Mary Theno, SSJ
 Sister Mary Theno, 85, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on Friday, July 3, 2009. Formerly Sister Mary George, she was in her 66th year of religious life. She was born on February 27, 1924 in Erie, the daughter of the late George and Edna (Krug) Theno.
She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 5, 1943 from her home parish, St. Mary’s, Erie. She professed her final vows on August 15, 1949 and celebrated her 60th anniversary as a Sister of St. Joseph in 2003. Reflecting on her years in the Congregation, Sister Mary recalled the many blessings she received as a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph. “I thank God for the graces that enable me to live as a part of the SSJ tradition,” she said. “T.S. Eliot writes that the sense of tradition is not just a sense of the past but it is the sense of the timeless joining the sense of the temporal of our own time and place. This best defines our SSJ tradition dating back over three hundred years. Our mission then was the same as it is today – unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God. The difference lies only in our response to the needs of our day and the time in which we live.” Prior to her death, Sister Mary resided at the Sisters of St. Joseph Community Living Center. Her many years of active ministry included working in graphic arts at Villa Maria College and Gannon University from 1978–1995. During that time, Sr. Mary also served on the U.S. Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph research team that was conducting an extensive review and translation of the Congregations’ earliest documents dating back to seventeenth century France. Sister Mary’s primary role was to utilize her design skills and artwork to provide visual expression for many of the translations that were published and utilized by SSJ Congregations throughout the U.S. Sister Mary also taught history and art at Villa Maria Academy from 1955–1978 and from 1944–1955 she taught at St. Andrew and Villa Maria Elementary schools in Erie and Holy Rosary in Johnsonburg. In 1955 she earned a B.A. in history and art from Villa Maria College, Erie and a M.F.A. in Art from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. in 1962. She also attended seminars in art at Indiana State College in Indianapolis, Indiana and in history at Holy Cross University in Massachusetts. She graduated from Villa Maria Academy and Villa Maria Elementary schools in Erie. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, John, and a sister, Margaret. She was also preceded in death by a great aunt, Rose Schlindwein and her husband, Dr. William Schlindwein. The Schlindweins are of special significance to the SSJ Congregation for the 1945 gift of their summer home and property on the banks of Elk Creek in McKean. This property, named “Villa Rosa” by Dr. Schlindwein in honor of his wife, is still utilized and enjoyed for retreats and other activities by the Sisters. Sister Mary is survived by the members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In addition, she is survived by a sister-in-law, Claire Theno, a cousin, Mary Louis Eichenlaub, OSB and a nephew, Jonathon Alberstadt.
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