Sister Mary Louise St. John

Sister Mary Louise St. John, (Order of Saint Benedict) was a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She was born March 13, 1943, in Glens Falls, New York to Joseph St. John and Alvarez DeMarsh.

She entered the (now defunct) religious community at the Regina Mundi priory in Devon, Pennsylvania in 1970. In 1978, she transferred to the Erie Benedictine community and professed her perpetual monastic vows at Mount St. Benedict in 1982.

She worked as a cytotechnologist at Regina Mundi in Devon from 1974 to 1976 and as a tutor there from 1976 to 1978. She also tutored students at Mount St. Benedict from 1979 to 1983, served as the business manager of the monastery's Benet Press from 1980 to 1985 and had ministered as a retreat guide and spiritual companion to gays and lesbians since 1985.

She was an advocate for the rights of people with physical disabilities as well as the gay community while serving on the board of directors of Community Resources for Independence in Erie. She helped create the Womynspace Coffeehouse in 1989, and she spoke at the 1998 Erie Gay Pride Rally.

She died September 14, 2003, aged 60, from complications of muscular dystrophy.

Links

 * http://www.eriegaynews.com/news/article.php?recordid=200310obituary.html
 * http://web.archive.org/web/20110712215012/http://www.marylouise.homestead.com/index.html
 * http://www.eriegaynews.com/pipermail/hrcsupporters_eriegaynews.com/2003-September/000006.html