SISTER CECILIA McCLAIN, SC, (formerly Sister Mary Lawrence), age 92, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, on September 19, 2016. Born in Crabtree, Pa, Sister Cecilia McClain entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on July 1, 1946, from Saint Bartholomew Parish in Crabtree. Preceded in death by her parents, Patrick J. and Agnes (Miller) McClain and a sister, Sister Mary Mildred McClain, SC, she is survived by a sister, Mrs. Mildred (Edward J.) Ulicny, nieces and nephews. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Seton Hill University, a master’s degree in music from DePaul University, Chicago, and a master’s degree in religious studies from Saint Charles Seminary. Sister Cecilia taught students in schools of the dioceses of Altoona-Johnstown, Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Wheeling-Charleston. She was principal at Saint James School, Apollo, and vice-principal at Sacred Heart School in Shadyside, Pittsburgh. From 1985, until her retirement in 2003, she ministered in the diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, as Director of Religious Education at the Shrine of the Infant of Prague Parish-Holy Spirit Parish in Jacksonville, NC. She moved to Caritas Christi when she retired in 2009. Capable, dedicated, quiet-spoken, Sister Cecilia embodied the words of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, “Through piety and gratitude, we come to the deepest recess of peace and true contentment.”
