Local News
Sister Remembered For Devoted Work In Georgia
Published: September 2, 2004
ATLANTA—Sister Marcella Meyer, CSJ, who taught in Georgia Catholic schools and worked with the elderly poor of the archdiocese for decades, died Aug. 23 in St. Louis at the Nazareth Living Center, her order’s assisted-living center. A Mass of Resurrection was celebrated on Aug. 26 at the center, where she had moved in January 2000 from Atlanta, followed by burial in Nazareth Cemetery. She was 94.
The Atlanta-born nun touched countless lives in nearly 70 years of service in Georgia. She spent 44 years as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools, eight as an outreach worker for Catholic Social Services and 15 more serving the elderly poor and sick in Atlanta after her retirement.
She grew up as a member of St. Anthony Church and attended the parish school and Sacred Heart School in Atlanta, where she was taught by Sisters of St. Joseph. Their example attracted her to its strict discipline. Her mother insisted she first date and get a job, but after holding out until she was 21, she signed on.
Sister Meyer made her final vows as a Sister of St. Joseph on August 15, 1936. She spent most of her active Religious life in elementary education in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Diocese of Savannah, serving at Mt. St. Joseph and St. Mary on the Hill in Augusta; at Sacred Heart in Savannah; at St. Francis Xavier in Brunswick; at St. Joseph Home in Washington; at St. John the Evangelist in Valdosta; and at St. Anthony, Blessed Sacrament and the Village of St. Joseph in Atlanta.
In the early 1970s, Sister Meyer went to work for Catholic Social Services, doing in-home care for the elderly. She visited homes and took people to the doctor and to the hospital, often waiting the better part of a day while patients were receiving treatment. She frequented the St. Vincent de Paul center in downtown Atlanta, where she obtained food, clothing and furniture to give to her clients. On the streets of Atlanta, Sister Meyer was a familiar sight.
Sister Meyer taught first through eighth grades across Georgia, from Valdosta to Brunswick. A highlight was the “six solid years” she spent as teacher and administrator at St. Anthony’s. As her alma mater had many children from Ft. McPherson, the nun even initiated a military program to foster discipline.
Her love of the poor grew early. At St. Anthony’s she began helping a family with about five children by providing them with free uniforms and school lunches and leftover cafeteria food for dinner.
In an interview in 2000, Sister Meyer said, “Whatever we did in those days was hidden with no recognition. I just feel that the hand of God was with us all those years.”
Her ministry flowed from her love of God and neighbor, which can’t be separated.
“You may be rejected and you just say a prayer and don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’ve learned that over the years.”
School desegregation was beginning when she served at St. Anthony’s and Blessed Sacrament, which she recalled as peaceful places. While growing up in Atlanta, she always played with black children while accepting official segregation but “woke up gradually to the injustice that was there.”
While an outreach worker for CSS in metro Atlanta she helped the elderly poor with her partner in charity, Sister Roberta Sutton, CSJ. In 1990 they were honored by the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta with the Mrs. Fred W. Patterson Award for service. After officially retiring from CSS, Sister Meyer said she “just kept the list” of people to serve and continued the ministry.
“They were the most beautiful people I dealt with. They just stirred my heart. We loved them,” she said.
She talked about the privilege of serving God’s poor, who never complained.
“I just loved every one of them. They taught me very many things. They were always happy. The people we worked with, they had no complaints. They accepted everything from God—what God wanted—that was their attitude. It was beautiful—spiritually rewarding for me. I treasured that opportunity to work with that type of people,” she said.
Sister Meyer was happy to be living with her community in St. Louis, but Georgia remained on her mind.
“You can’t help but miss people you’ve been associated with all your life,” she said. “None of our work was a hardship.”
Condolence cards may be sent to her nieces, Beth Banks, 1385 Kerner Road, Kernersville, NC 27284 and Ann Donnell, 3 Bell Wood Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39402. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63111-2899.
