Sister M. Therese Dush, CA, was born Sept. 18, 1931 and died Monday, April 27, 2015.
She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Joseph and Anna Dush and many nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Clyde and Margaret (Collins) Dush and her brothers, Lee Roy Dush and William Dush.
She grew up in Irishtown and her Catholic faith was nurtured by her parents and her involvement in her home parish of St. Bonaventure in Grampian.
As a young person, she enjoyed square dances and playing the base fiddle in her father’s country band.
At age 17, she answered God’s call to become a Catholic sister and entered the Sisters of Mercy in the Diocese of Erie on June 25, 1949.
She received a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Mercyhurst College in Erie. She taught grade school in many parish schools in the Diocese of Erie as well as religious education for students of all levels.
She went on to obtain a Master’s degree in administration elementary education. She loved children and young people and impacted the lives of thousands of them through her years as a teacher and grade school principal at St Catherine’s in DuBois and St. Francis in Clearfield.
She had a great love for the poor and loved people right where she found them. She began her missionary outreach to the poor with Erie Diocese youth first in Kentucky in 1972 and then founded Young People Who Care Mission in Clearfield County in 1976.
She was the visionary leader of Young People Who Care for almost 40 years. She began this mission to provide direct services to the poor in their homes.
In the following years, she expanded its services to include Marian House, an emergency shelter for women and children, two Life Line offices serving the needs of pregnant women and infants, a used clothing outlet and Bethany Adult and Youth Retreat Centers in Frenchville.
She completed both a Master’s degree in counseling through Penn State and also formation in spiritual direction from the Jesuit Renewal Center in Cincinnati.
As a spiritual director and also a counselor, she helped transform the lives of many adults in the areas of spiritual and personal growth. Her guidance and inspiration also helped to found the Susquehanna Rural Free Clinic in Frenchville.
Out of the Young People Who Care Mission, she founded the religious community, the Community of Anawim, in 1984. She transferred her religious vows to this new community while still remaining closely associated with the Sisters of Mercy.
Her legacy can be found in the thousands of lives touched and changed. These lives include the children she taught in her many years of teaching, the young people and volunteers she inspired to live out the Gospel challenge of service to others in her years of Mission work at Young People Who Care, the poor whose lives were made better, the prisoners to whom she taught prayer and brought the Gospel and the adults for whom she served as spiritual director and retreat director through Bethany Retreat Center.
She truly lived out her ring motto of “Love can do all things.” She is greatly loved and will be missed by all who had the privilege to know her. May her dynamic and faith filled life continue to inspire others. Love indeed can do all things.
A Mass of Christian burial will be said at 11 a.m. Friday at the Bethany Retreat Center, Frenchville, with Msgr. Charles Kaza as celebrant and Fr. Jerry Simmons as homilist.
Burial will follow in the Bethany Retreat Center Cemetery.
Friends will be received from 2 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Friday at the center. A Christian Vigil service with a Eulogy will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Bethany Retreat Center.
In lieu of flowers, it is strongly suggested that memorial contributions be made to Young People Who Care Ministries, P.O. Box 129, Frenchville, PA 16836.
The Kevin A. Beardsley Funeral Home, Clearfield, is in charge of arrangements.
To sign the online guestbook, please go to www.beardsleyfuneralhome.com.