Sister Mary Anna Riley, IHM, age 88, died Thursday, Nov. 21, at the IHM Senior Living Community, Monroe, under hospice care.
Mary Anna Riley was born April 26, 1936, to Edward and Margaret (Uhl) Riley in Lakewood, Ohio. The family included a son, Edward, and daughters, Joanne, Cecelia, Paula and Margaret. Mary Anna recalled a loving home and family. She entered the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Monroe) in 1955 and received the religious name Sister Edward Joseph.
Edward Riley worked for the New York City Railroad, which afforded the move from Ohio to southern Michigan. Mary Anna attended St. John and St. Thomas Grade Schools in the Ann Arbor area. Upon graduation from St. Thomas High School, she entered the IHM community.
Sister Mary Anna was a dynamic student and was always in study throughout her life. Earning a bachelor’s degree at Marygrove College, she began teaching elementary grades at Sacred Heart, Dearborn; Epiphany and Annunciation, Detroit; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Emmett. In 1966, she was missioned to Santa Theresita School, Santurce, Puerto Rico and furthered her own studies in Spanish at the College of the Sacred Heart. Returning to Michigan, she earned a master’s degree in education administration from Wayne State University while in teaching positions at the Hall of the Divine Child, Monroe and St. Charles, Newport. This led to management positions combined with teaching technology at Wyandotte Consolidated Catholic Schools and St. Scholastica, Detroit.
In 1995, she began full-time studies at Schoolcraft College, earning a degree in Occupational Therapy. For several years, she was employed as a therapist with Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit. Her many educations were always valuable in the next ministry she found herself, as if all learning applied to her current students or clients. Sister was committed to education and students’ success no matter their age or circumstance. She touched many lives through her ministries.
In her latter years of ministry, Sister Mary Anna supported the Siena Literacy Center of Redford, Michigan, where she worked wholeheartedly as Coordinator of Data and Resources and then in Admissions and Assessment. For the Center, she was awarded IHM Ministry Grants for programs improving literacy. Sister Mary Anna was a longtime resident of Dearborn, an active parishioner and choir member of St. Thomas a’Becket Parish, and a friend to many! A recent health crisis necessitated her stay at the IHM Senior Living Community.
Sister Mary Anna is survived by nieces and nephews, dear friend and caregiver Mary Ellen Hochkins and her IHM Sisters in community. She was preceded in death by brother Edward J. and sisters Joanne, Cecilia, Paula and Margaret.
Read Sister Mary Anna’s remembering here.