Obituary: Mary Elizabeth Middendorf, SCN, 98, Nazareth
Mary Elizabeth Middendorf, SCN, 98, Nazareth, (formerly Sister George Maria) died Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. She was born July 30, 1926, in Cincinnati. She was a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth for 74 years.
She was named after her grandmother and was the second of five children born to Clement Joseph Middendorf and Hedwig Elizabeth Olding Middendorf. Growing up during the Depression Era was challenging for her family. As her older brother had left for the seminary, she cared for her younger siblings as her parents worked. She was from a musical family who could play a variety of instruments. The Franciscan Sisters taught her how to play the piano.
Growing up in Cincinnati, she was a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan. Although she never made it to a game, she regularly listened to the games on the radio.
After graduating high school, she worked for an electric company in the payroll office. After a couple of years, a co-worker left to enter nurse’s training. She thought she would like to do this too. She took night classes to complete her basic courses. She also volunteered at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. While she was a student nurse, the Rev. George Donnelly, a patient, encouraged her to learn about the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. She did meet several SCNs who came to visit Father George. In the spring of 1947, Mary decided to go to Nazareth. She entered the SCN Community that September. She received the habit in 1948 and was given the religious name George Maria after Father George.
She served in healthcare ministries for many years, starting as a student nurse in 1950 at St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville. During this time she also worked at a clinic for the Louisville Health Dept. giving immunizations and physicals to children. She served as a nurse at Marymount Hospital in London, Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, and St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Ark. She was a nursing supervisor for Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital in Louisville.
In 1964 she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Spalding College. She next earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from Catholic University in Washington D.C. After graduate study she taught college nursing classes at Spalding College for two years.
She returned to nursing, serving at St. Joseph Infirmary until it closed in 1970. She then began working for Project H.O.P.E (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) serving on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The SS HOPE took her from Baltimore to Brazil where she lived and served on the hospital ship docked in Natal, Brazil.
She returned to Kentucky in 1972 and continued in healthcare ministry, serving as a registered nurse at Sts. Mary and Elizabeth, as a nurse practitioner at Nazareth Home, and as a campus nurse for Spalding University.
She began volunteering with Family Scholar House/Project Women in 1997 helping women with various needs such as housing and employment. She volunteered there for 20 years. Using skills learned as a child, she made quilts for fundraisers for St. Agnes Church and the Little Sisters of the Poor. She moved to Nazareth in 2017 and enjoyed those years with her Sisters in the SCN Community.
She is survived by her extended family and her religious community, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
The Funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at St. Vincent Church in Nazareth. Burial is in the Nazareth Cemetery.
Visitation is after 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in St. Vincent de Paul Church. The wake is 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Memorials may be offered to the Office of Mission Advancement, PO Box 9, Nazareth, Ky., 40048.
The Houghlin-Greenwell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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