Family and friends gathered for the funeral Mass for Sr Elizabeth Hanlon RSM at Mercy Aged Care Centre’s Our Lady of Mercy Chapel in Wembley on October 17.
Sr Elizabeth passed away on October 12, at the age of 91, after spending the last 16 months at the aged care facility.
Relatives from Australia and overseas, including two of Sr Elizabeth’s nieces, gathered for the funeral, as well as residents and staff of the facility.
Survived by two of her six siblings, Elizabeth was born on January 7, 1922 in County Westmeath, Ireland, to Patrick and Anne Hanlon.
At the age of 16 she joined 22 young Irish women in 1938 as they sailed to Australia, where they all entered the Sisters of Mercy the following year.
Elizabeth was given the name Sr Mary Eugene and made her first profession of vows on January 30, 1943.
The Mercy sister spent more than 40 years at St Anne’s Hospital (now Mercy Hospital) in Mount Lawley, working as a nurse and midwife, assisting mothers and families.
In 1991, she moved to the Mercy Sisters convent in Perth, where she spent three years before transferring to Donnybrook.
“Elizabeth was a gentle, faith-filled lady who loved people and was always very hospitable,” Sr Hope Messer said in her eulogy.
The Mass was celebrated by Father Pat Cunningham, who echoed Sr Hope’s thoughts during his homily.
“Day after day, in those kind actions of Sister’s life, she was not only believing in the Resurrection herself, but she was trying to bring the Resurrection of Christ into the lives of the people she treated in health, education and parish work,” he said.
“She was trying to let God touch their lives so that they felt better.
“We salute the beautiful life of Sr Elizabeth and we salute all those people who benefited from her holiness and her love.”