Sr. Mary Diane Bushee

“Teach me, O Lord, Thy way, so that I may walk in Thy truth, direct my heart that it may fear Thy Name.” Ps. 85.11

Sr. Mary Diane Bushee, S.A.C.

December 24, 1934 – August 23, 2024

God called Sr. Diane Bushee home at 6:30 p.m. Sr. Diane left this world surrounded by those who loved her--including not only her religious Sisters, but family members, St. Mary’s Medical Center employees, area ministers, and friends.

Sr. Diane was a native West Virginian, having been born to the late Fred James Bushee and Erna Mae MARSHALL Bushee in Princeton, WV. She was preceded in death by her siblings: Elois Marie McAfee, Mary Marcelyn Sadler, James Raymond Bushee, Dorothy Nadine Walda and Carol Eileen Gregory. She was the beloved aunt of her nieces and nephews.

Sr. Diane entered the Pallottine Missionary Sisters on July 16, 1953. She made her first profession on August 15, 1956, and her final profession on August 15, 1962, in Huntington, WV. In 1959 she received her R.N. degree at St. Mary’s School of Nursing. She continued her education receiving both her B.S.N. and M.S.N. degrees at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She completed a three-year summer certificate program in Hospital Executive Development.

This education bore much fruit, and she went wherever she was called to serve wherever needed. In Huntington, WV she was the Assistant Director of Nursing from 1961-1962 and served in Nursing Administration from 1964-1974. In 1974 she was asked to serve as Assistant Hospital Administrator and was elected to the Provincial Council until 1977. In 1977 she was elected as Provincial and left her beloved West Virginia to work from the Pallottine Renewal Center in Florissant, Missouri. In 1986-1987, she was consultant to the Provincial, served on the hospital boards in Huntington and Buckhannon, WV, and St. Vincent Pallotti High School Board in Laurel, Maryland.

In 1970 she was one of many that mourned the loss of those killed in the Marshall plane crash—attending the memorials of doctors, board members, and friends. In 1972 she volunteered in Logan, WV in the Buffalo Creek flooding and the slag dam collapses to help family members identify loved ones.

From 1990 until 2015, Sr. Diane became Senior Vice President that included being Director of Mission Integration for St. Mary’s Medical Center and overseeing the Pastoral Care Department. She continued to serve on various boards including Pallottine Health Services. She was Diocesan Coordinator of Health Affairs (Wheeling-Charleston) and served on Unity Health Steering Committee.

As a member of an international congregation, Sr. Diane was called to Rome, Italy, where she had an impact on the governmental structure of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters worldwide.

All of this speaks of what Sr. Diane Bushee did yet does not provide a clue as to the woman she was. She was a woman of faith, hope and love. She loved being a religious sister and nurse and missed the interaction with patients when she was called to go into administration. She poured that love into the community of Sisters and their institutions. She was extremely empathic and would gravitate to those who hurt, providing the kindest smile, gentlest hand, and caring heart. She will be remembered for her love of detail and meetings, and her infectious laugh. As Administrator in health care, she was vigilant to oversee the rights of patients and to ensure that the Catholic health care values for patients and employees were being met.

How fitting that before Sister’s death, she was able to help celebrate St. Mary’s Medical Center’s100th Anniversary. Seventy of those years, Sr. Diane was involved in the direction that St. Mary’s would take in the coming decades.

Sr. Diane was excited to attend the Gala in May, where a video had a recorded message from her: “I pray that our staff members will continue the legacy that we [Pallottine Missionary Sisters] started. We tried to lay groundwork for them . . . I pray that they are able to serve the people in the area and do God’s work.”