Burns RSM, Sister Mary Irene

Sister Mary Irene Burns RSM, 80, died Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, at Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids after a long illness. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Sacred Heart Convent Chapel in Cedar Rapids by the Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial will follow the funeral service at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids, with a wake service at 7 p.m. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral and Memorial Services.

Sister Mary Irene was born on July 1, 1932, in Lawler, Iowa, the daughter of Edwin and Irene (Meyer) Burns. She attended Lawler schools and graduated from Mount Mercy Academy in Cedar Rapids in 1950. Following graduation, she entered the Sisters of Mercy Community in Cedar Rapids and received her bachelor's degree in history from Mount Mercy College. Sister Irene's lifelong ministry of teaching music, reading and working in education administration took her all over Iowa, as well as Montana. She served at St. Nicholas, Waterloo; St. Patrick, Garryowen; Immaculate Conception, Elma; St. Matthew, Cedar Rapids; St. Matthew in Kalispell, Mont.; St. John, Waterloo; Sacred Heart, Waterloo; and All Saints in Cedar Rapids.

In between her years of teaching, Sister Irene earned her master's degree in reading and psychology from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis. Sister Irene retired in 2001, but continued to tutor students at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids and served as an assistant archivist for the Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids.

Sister Irene was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Francis Burns; a sister, Delores Burns; and two siblings at birth.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, she is survived by a sister-in-law, Marilyn Burns (Jim) Leibold of Lawler; nephews, David (Patricia - deceased) Burns and Owen Burns, both of Lawler, Don (Pam) Burns of Rochester, Minn., and Ed (Bridgett) Burns of Norfolk, Va; a niece, Mary Burns (Dale Christensen) of Shorewood, Minn.; five great-nieces and great-nephews; four great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews; and several cousins.

Memorials may be made to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

Published Aug. 16, 2012 in The Gazette