Sister M. Celeste Lynch Sac

SISTER M. CELESTE (Mary Lee) LYNCH, SAC a member of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, died Sunday, December 2, 2012, at the age of 88, at St. Mary's Convent Infirmary in Huntington, W.Va. She was born to Maurice A. and Minnie Ann Trent Lynch on June 19, 1924, in Bristol, Tenn. She is survived by sisters Veronica Ferski of Bristol, Virginia and Barbara Booher of Bristol,Tenn, and two brothers Maurice, and his wife Wanda of Bristol, Tenn, and Patrick and his wife Thelma, of Huntsville, Ala., and several neices and nephews. She was preceded in death by two brothers: Thomas of Bristol, Tenn,, and James of Nashville, Tenn. Sr. Celeste entered the Pallottine Missionary Sisters on February 14, 1945. In her early years as a nurse, Sister served at St. Mary’s Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital in Richwood, W.Va. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from St. Louis University. She earned her Master’s in Nursing Education from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1963, and a Masters in Spirituality from Creighton University in 1978. She was Director of St. Mary’s School of Nursing from 1959-1976, where she loved serving the students and sharing her love for the nursing profession. She was then asked to spend the next ten years helping to form young women to deepen their Christian commitment and become Pallottine Missionary Sisters. Sister was elected as Provincial Superior for the next nine years and served on St. Mary’s Medical Center Board, St. Joseph’s Hospital Board (Buckhannon, W.Va.) and St. Vincent Pallotti High School Board in Laurel, Md. She was President of Pallottine Health Services, Inc. (1988-2012), On-Going Formation Director, Director of Temporary Professed Sisters, SMMC Foundation Board, and Ultimate Health Board. As Provincial, she traveled to Rome, met John Paul II, and visited our other provinces in Poland, Belize and South Africa. Being of Irish descent, she realized that dream of visiting that country on a special trip with her brother, Pat. Sister was an outstanding leader and helped envision what St. Mary’s Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon are today. She was named The Herald-Dispatch 2012 Citizen of the Year for Community Impact and was awarded a place on St. Mary’s Medical Center’s Wall of Fame in 2012. Sr. Celeste Lynch will be remembered for the values that she promulgated for Pallottine Health Services: compassion, hospitality, reverence, interdependence, stewardship, and trust. Her religious sisters will remember her as the face of hope and joy. She served the people of the Tri-State as a Pallottine Sister for more than 65 years. Visitation will be at St. Mary’s Medical Center Chapel from 2–7 p.m., Wednesday, December 5, 2012, and the Mass of Resurrection will be on Thursday, December 6, 2012, at Our Lady of Fatima Church at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, a memorial gift may be made to the Pallottine Missionary Sisters retirement fund or the Pallotti Fund through Pallottine Health Services, Inc. “In all the years I have been privileged to serve, I have learned one thing: the happiest people are those who give.” Sr. Celeste Lynch, SAC