Sister Mary Christina Bryce, SSND
(née Theresa Bryce)
First Profession August 12, 1943
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Mary Christina Bryce, a grade school teacher who taught in schools in three states over five decades, died of congestive heart failure on July 20, 2012, at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore. She was 89 years old and had been a professed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for more than 68 years.
Theresa Mary Bryce was born Aug. 15, 1922, in Lowell, Mass. She was raised by her foster mother, Catherine Chisholm, in Malden, Mass., and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame from her earliest days in school. In 1940, she joined the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. As a novice, she was given the religious name Mary Christina, and she professed her first vows in August 1943.
Sister Christina's first assignment was Grade 1 at St. Joseph School in Verona, Pa., (1943-44). She also taught first grade at St. Boniface in Philadelphia (1944-46), St. Thomas Aquinas in Baltimore (1946-54) and Mount Calvary in Forestville, Md. (1954-59) before being missioned to Florida, where she would serve in grade schools for most of the next 20 years.
Among the schools where she taught in Florida were Blessed Trinity in Miami Springs (1959-62), Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tampa (1962-66), and Visitation School in Miami (1966-72 and 1973-79). It was at Visitation School that she first individualized instruction by establishing a learning center where children could work independently.
Sister Christina continued her innovative work in learning resources after being assigned in 1981 to St. Peter School in Philadelphia where she served first as a resource person for children in early grades and later making individualized instruction available to all grades. After several years as coordinator of the Learning Center, she became an instructor in computer education (1986-87) at St. Peter. She particularly enjoyed using the computer to engage children in the lower grades in the phonics/reading process.
After a year in community service at Villa Assumpta, the former Baltimore Province motherhouse, Sister Christina returned to St. Peter School in 1988 and spent the next nine years before her retirement in 1997 in various roles – as acting librarian, teaching small groups, overseeing the computer work of grades 4 to 6 and offering community service at St. Peter Convent.
In 1997 Sister Christina moved to Villa Assumpta in Baltimore, today home to retired sisters of the Atlantic-Midwest Province. She has lived at Maria Health Care Center, adjacent to Villa Assumpta, since 2005.
Sister Christina is a 1956 graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
Sister Christina is survived by two nieces, Paula Leavitt of Stoneham, Mass., and Kathy Mabius of Reading, Mass.
Memorial contributions may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province, c/o Mission Advancement Office, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897.
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
(née Theresa Bryce)
First Profession August 12, 1943
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Mary Christina Bryce, a grade school teacher who taught in schools in three states over five decades, died of congestive heart failure on July 20, 2012, at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore. She was 89 years old and had been a professed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for more than 68 years.
Theresa Mary Bryce was born Aug. 15, 1922, in Lowell, Mass. She was raised by her foster mother, Catherine Chisholm, in Malden, Mass., and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame from her earliest days in school. In 1940, she joined the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. As a novice, she was given the religious name Mary Christina, and she professed her first vows in August 1943.
Sister Christina's first assignment was Grade 1 at St. Joseph School in Verona, Pa., (1943-44). She also taught first grade at St. Boniface in Philadelphia (1944-46), St. Thomas Aquinas in Baltimore (1946-54) and Mount Calvary in Forestville, Md. (1954-59) before being missioned to Florida, where she would serve in grade schools for most of the next 20 years.
Among the schools where she taught in Florida were Blessed Trinity in Miami Springs (1959-62), Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tampa (1962-66), and Visitation School in Miami (1966-72 and 1973-79). It was at Visitation School that she first individualized instruction by establishing a learning center where children could work independently.
Sister Christina continued her innovative work in learning resources after being assigned in 1981 to St. Peter School in Philadelphia where she served first as a resource person for children in early grades and later making individualized instruction available to all grades. After several years as coordinator of the Learning Center, she became an instructor in computer education (1986-87) at St. Peter. She particularly enjoyed using the computer to engage children in the lower grades in the phonics/reading process.
After a year in community service at Villa Assumpta, the former Baltimore Province motherhouse, Sister Christina returned to St. Peter School in 1988 and spent the next nine years before her retirement in 1997 in various roles – as acting librarian, teaching small groups, overseeing the computer work of grades 4 to 6 and offering community service at St. Peter Convent.
In 1997 Sister Christina moved to Villa Assumpta in Baltimore, today home to retired sisters of the Atlantic-Midwest Province. She has lived at Maria Health Care Center, adjacent to Villa Assumpta, since 2005.
Sister Christina is a 1956 graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
Sister Christina is survived by two nieces, Paula Leavitt of Stoneham, Mass., and Kathy Mabius of Reading, Mass.
Memorial contributions may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province, c/o Mission Advancement Office, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897.
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
Sister Mary Christina Bryce, SSND
(née Theresa Bryce)
First Profession August 12, 1943
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Mary Christina Bryce, a grade school teacher who taught in schools in three states over five decades, died of congestive heart failure on July 20, 2012, at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore. She was 89 years old and had been a professed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for more than 68 years.
Theresa Mary Bryce was born Aug. 15, 1922, in Lowell, Mass. She was raised by her foster mother, Catherine Chisholm, in Malden, Mass., and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame from her earliest days in school. In 1940, she joined the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. As a novice, she was given the religious name Mary Christina, and she professed her first vows in August 1943.
Sister Christina's first assignment was Grade 1 at St. Joseph School in Verona, Pa., (1943-44). She also taught first grade at St. Boniface in Philadelphia (1944-46), St. Thomas Aquinas in Baltimore (1946-54) and Mount Calvary in Forestville, Md. (1954-59) before being missioned to Florida, where she would serve in grade schools for most of the next 20 years.
Among the schools where she taught in Florida were Blessed Trinity in Miami Springs (1959-62), Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tampa (1962-66), and Visitation School in Miami (1966-72 and 1973-79). It was at Visitation School that she first individualized instruction by establishing a learning center where children could work independently.
Sister Christina continued her innovative work in learning resources after being assigned in 1981 to St. Peter School in Philadelphia where she served first as a resource person for children in early grades and later making individualized instruction available to all grades. After several years as coordinator of the Learning Center, she became an instructor in computer education (1986-87) at St. Peter. She particularly enjoyed using the computer to engage children in the lower grades in the phonics/reading process.
After a year in community service at Villa Assumpta, the former Baltimore Province motherhouse, Sister Christina returned to St. Peter School in 1988 and spent the next nine years before her retirement in 1997 in various roles – as acting librarian, teaching small groups, overseeing the computer work of grades 4 to 6 and offering community service at St. Peter Convent.
In 1997 Sister Christina moved to Villa Assumpta in Baltimore, today home to retired sisters of the Atlantic-Midwest Province. She has lived at Maria Health Care Center, adjacent to Villa Assumpta, since 2005.
Sister Christina is a 1956 graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
Sister Christina is survived by two nieces, Paula Leavitt of Stoneham, Mass., and Kathy Mabius of Reading, Mass.
Memorial contributions may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province, c/o Mission Advancement Office, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897.
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
(née Theresa Bryce)
First Profession August 12, 1943
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Mary Christina Bryce, a grade school teacher who taught in schools in three states over five decades, died of congestive heart failure on July 20, 2012, at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore. She was 89 years old and had been a professed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for more than 68 years.
Theresa Mary Bryce was born Aug. 15, 1922, in Lowell, Mass. She was raised by her foster mother, Catherine Chisholm, in Malden, Mass., and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame from her earliest days in school. In 1940, she joined the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. As a novice, she was given the religious name Mary Christina, and she professed her first vows in August 1943.
Sister Christina's first assignment was Grade 1 at St. Joseph School in Verona, Pa., (1943-44). She also taught first grade at St. Boniface in Philadelphia (1944-46), St. Thomas Aquinas in Baltimore (1946-54) and Mount Calvary in Forestville, Md. (1954-59) before being missioned to Florida, where she would serve in grade schools for most of the next 20 years.
Among the schools where she taught in Florida were Blessed Trinity in Miami Springs (1959-62), Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tampa (1962-66), and Visitation School in Miami (1966-72 and 1973-79). It was at Visitation School that she first individualized instruction by establishing a learning center where children could work independently.
Sister Christina continued her innovative work in learning resources after being assigned in 1981 to St. Peter School in Philadelphia where she served first as a resource person for children in early grades and later making individualized instruction available to all grades. After several years as coordinator of the Learning Center, she became an instructor in computer education (1986-87) at St. Peter. She particularly enjoyed using the computer to engage children in the lower grades in the phonics/reading process.
After a year in community service at Villa Assumpta, the former Baltimore Province motherhouse, Sister Christina returned to St. Peter School in 1988 and spent the next nine years before her retirement in 1997 in various roles – as acting librarian, teaching small groups, overseeing the computer work of grades 4 to 6 and offering community service at St. Peter Convent.
In 1997 Sister Christina moved to Villa Assumpta in Baltimore, today home to retired sisters of the Atlantic-Midwest Province. She has lived at Maria Health Care Center, adjacent to Villa Assumpta, since 2005.
Sister Christina is a 1956 graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
Sister Christina is survived by two nieces, Paula Leavitt of Stoneham, Mass., and Kathy Mabius of Reading, Mass.
Memorial contributions may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province, c/o Mission Advancement Office, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897.
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
