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Sister Marie Weber, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, died on September 29,2018, in Los Angeles, California in the 69th year of her religious life. Although Sister Marie had entered the novitiate in California, andspent her last10 years in retirement there at Carondelet Center, the Northwest was always a special part of her life. She was born on April 25,1929, in Ferdinand, Idaho, growing up with her six brothers and sisters. After graduating from business college, she worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lewiston, Idaho, where she met the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
“After working there for about three months,” she said, “I decided to join the Sisters.” Sister entered the community on February 11, 1949, receiving the religious name Sister Frances Leo, which she changed in 1970 to Sister Marie. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Mount St. Mary’s College, taught in elementary schools for 20 years, then requested to
leave teaching for office work. In order to be near her family during both of her parents’ illnesses, Sister Marie accepted the position of administrative assistant at Fort Wright Holy Name Center from 1984 to 1990. After the sale of Fort Wright, she remained as office manager for Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, serving as office manager from 1990 to 2003. In her work at Mukogawa, she learned to speak Japanese, perform the tea ceremony and even traveled to Japan as a guest of Mukogawa. To call her a bridge-builder and liaison between the Japanese and American communities would not be an exaggeration. Her respect, warmth, sensitivity and efforts to support the transition helped to advance the cultural and economic benefits, enhancing the best interests of both American and Japanese communities. Sister Marie later volunteered at the Elderly Services Peer Counseling and at the Transition Program at Domin-ican Center in Spokane. In June 2008, she joined Holy Family Community at Carondelet Center, Los Angeles. Deaf in her last years, she filled her days with prayer, spiritual reading and watching some news and history
programs on television. She died gently and quietly, as she had lived her life. The funeral Mass was held at Carondelet Center, with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery.
