SISTER M. JEREMY MAHLA, SC, 89, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, on July 17. Born in Pittsburgh, Sister Jeremy entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on September 8, 1951, from Sacred Heart Parish, Shadyside. Preceded in death by her parents, Joseph A. and Helen (Henke) Mahla, a brother Joseph A., Jr., she is survived by cousins. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, education, and social studies from Penn State University and a master’s degree in education of the deaf from the University of Illinois. Sister Jeremy taught students of the junior and high school levels in schools of the Altoona-Johnstown and Pittsburgh dioceses. From 1962 until 1969, she taught at St. Joseph High School in Kang Jin, South Korea and volunteered to return there from 1992-1993 to teach English. When she returned from Korea in 1969, Sister Jeremy was assigned to teach at the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech, a tenure that extended to 2000, when she spent a year in Fort Portal, Uganda, East Africa, as a liaison with the Daughters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She taught computer skills to the sisters and offered assistance to them in developing their English speaking and writing skills. When she returned from Africa, Sister Jeremy taught science and mathematics at Seton-LaSalle High School from 2001 until 2006. She returned to DePaul School for Hearing and Speech and taught science and mathematics until 2009. She volunteered to return to Korea again from 2009-2011 to teach English. An adventurer with boundless energy, Sister Jeremy took every opportunity to explore the world, whether through completing an Outward Bound survival challenge or becoming a licensed scuba diver. She was also a flutist, a poet, a photographer, and a cosmologist. Her life as a Sister of Charity was her heart. She recorded, “For me, religious life has made the Word visible. It is visible in the enlightenment of the Scriptures and opportunities for spiritual growth; in the unity of common prayer and the quiet private prayer; in the love of my family and friends and the consideration and generosity of my sisters; in the excitement of discovering the wonders of God’s creation and striving to awaken students to its beauty as a science teacher; in all the students I’ve had the privilege to teach, especially the deaf children; and in being missioned to live and teach the ‘people of God’ in diverse cultures and in developing empathy for them.
