Sister Katherine Ann Durney, C.B.S., nursed in Baltimore Archdiocese, dies at 97

Sister Katherine Ann Durney, whose nursing career brought her to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, died July 23 at Marian Hall in Marriottsville, the retirement home for the Sisters of Bon Secours, USA. She was 97.

A native of Wilmington, Del., she was a graduate of its St. Francis School of Nursing, and was a registered nurse when she entered the Congregation of Bon Secours in 1946. She received her nursing home administrator license in 1977.

Known as “Sister Kay,” she served as OR and night supervisor at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore; director of nursing and assistant administrator at Villa Maria Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Miami; and as assistant administrator in Bon Secours Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Mich.

At both the Florida and Michigan institutions, she served as president of the board of trustees. In Baltimore, Sister Katherine was on the board of directors of Bon Secours Hospital and Bon Secours Housing Inc. Sister Katherine was also a provincial councilor for the Sisters of Bon Secours and a member of the Sponsorship Task Force.  

In 1987, she became a certified pastoral care chaplain and, for several years, ministered to patients and residents in the Bon Secours Nursing Care Center in Ellicott City. She also served in Virginia as chaplain at Bon Secours DePaul Hospital and Provincial Place of Norfolk.

“It was a deeply rewarding and fulfilling experience to minister to people who hunger for love, compassion and the word of God,” said Sister Katherine, according to an obituary provided by her order.

After Sister Katherine retired in 2000, she volunteered at Bon Secours Assisted Living facility in Norfolk, Va., before moving to Marriottsville, where she enjoyed having meals with the other sisters and partaking in activities such as bingo, word games and crafts.

In this, her 75th jubilee year, Sister Katherine said, “My community has always been a source of strength and inspiration to me and has given me many opportunities to grow spiritually and professionally. My primary life source has been and continues to be prayer. What a wonderful life I have experienced as a sister of Bon Secours for 75 years.”

A wake service and Celebration of Life Mass were held July 28 at the Sisters of Bon Secours Chapel in Marriottsville. Burial will take place Aug. 4 at 12:30 p.m. at Mount Cavalry Cemetery in Richmond, where she will lay in rest next to her biological sister, Sister Elizabeth Durney, also a Sister of Bon Secours.

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