Cashman, Sister Mary Clementine

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sister Mary Clementine Cashman RSM, 96, died Friday, Oct. 22, 2010, at Mercy Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids after a brief illness. Services will be held at the Chapel of Mercy at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Oct. 25, at 10:30 a.m. by the Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial will be at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids, with a Scripture service at 6 p.m. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services.

Sister Mary Clementine was born in St. Cecilia, Iowa, near Elma on Feb. 16, 1914, the daughter of Clement and Lydia Sullivan Cashman. She graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Elma in 1931 and entered the Sisters of Mercy in Cedar Rapids on July 15, 1932, making her final vows on June 24, 1938.

Sister Mary Clementine received a bachelor's degree in music from Loras College in Dubuque and spent much of her ministry as a Sister of Mercy as a music teacher. She taught at a number of Iowa schools, including St. Benedict, Decorah; St. Berchman, Marion; Immaculate Conception, Charles City; Sacred Heart, Oelwein; Sacred Heart and St. John in Waterloo; and All Saints and St. Matthew in Cedar Rapids. She also shared her talent outside of Iowa, teaching music at St. Matthew School in Kalispell, Mont.

In addition to her role as a music teacher, Sister Mary Clementine also served as a principal at Immaculate Conception School in Cedar Rapids and St. Cecilia School in Ames.

After her years as an educator, Sister Mary Clementine served in ministries across the city of Cedar Rapids as a local coordinator at Sacred Heart Convent, a mail room receptionist at Mount Mercy College and a volunteer at Mercy Medical Center and Sacred Heart Convent.

In 1998, she was inducted into the Mount Mercy Athletic Hall of Fame for her continued support of the colleges' athletic programs. In 2006, Sister Mary Clementine moved to Mercy Hallmar Care Center and volunteered there and at Mercy Medical Center by reciting the rosary and visiting patients.

Sister Mary Clementine was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Louis Cashman; two sisters, Betty Hockinson and Marian Goergen; brother-in-law. Marvin (Hockey) Hockinson; and three nephews.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy. she is survived by a brother-in-law, Lawrence Goergen; seven nieces and nephews and several great-nieces and great-nephews.

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