In memoriam

I just received the following from my alma mater:

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Sister Mary Mangan on July 3, 2007. She had been living in the Loretto Motherhouse in Kentucky. A memorial service will be held in Kentucky.

Sr. Mary led a remarkable life dedicated to the Catholic faith, progressive political activism, and academic pursuits. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University (wearing full habit) at a time when there were virtually no women in the discipline. She was continually involved with numerous political activities, from the civil rights movement to the League of Women Voters. As a longtime faculty member in the Department of History/Political Science, Sr. Mary served as department chair as well as chair of the university faculty. She was awarded the status of Professor Emeritus in the 1980s, but continued to be an active teacher and departmental member for another decade.

Those of you who knew Sr. Mary will certainly never forget her wry sense of humor, thirst for knowledge, and commitment to high ideals. She represented the best of the Webster tradition.

To which I can only add "amen". Sr. Mary was the professor and adviser who most challenged me during my undergraduate years. She set very, very high expectations for all of her students and inspired them to meet them. She took me on as an already voracious reader and encouraged me to read even more, particularly about public policy and international politics. And she did have a wicked sense of humor, delivered with a wink; if you could make her smile or laugh, you really felt you had accomplished something for the day. And she had a particular vocal tic that sometimes made even the direst subject amusing; after posing a question to you, she would seemingly involuntarily add "mmm-hmm" with a slight lilt. I confess now that we often gently mimicked her during post-class discussions in the halls of the Administration Building.

Until she moved to Kentucky, I would frequently see her around campus or when I was passing the convent. She always had time for a chat. I found myself thinking of her often in recent years, usually when reading the New York Times or Christian Science Monitor, wondering what she'd have to say about this story or that. I more than occasionally wondered if she ever thought of me since one of the things that most amazed me about Sr. Mary was her uncanny recall of nearly every student she'd ever taught, where they were, what job (or, often, elected position) they held and other, minute details of their lives.

I hope those many connections around the globe and her faith were of comfort to her. Knowing she was in the world, still learning, teaching and speaking truth to power, was something of a comfort to me, particularly in recent years. She'll be missed, mmm-hmm.

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