December 20, 2023

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Sister Catherine Mary Cummings, a Sister of Mercy, on Saturday, December 16, at Reiss Family Memorial Chapel at Elderwood of Uihlein in Lake Placid. Father John Yonkovig and Father Paul Kelly will celebrate the Mass.

A spring burial will be in St. Alphonsus Cemetery in Tupper Lake.

Sister Catherine Mary Cummings died Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. She was 86.

Born Shirley Ann Cummings in Ogdensburg on Aug. 29, 1937, she was the daughter of Katherine and Myron Cummings.

She entered the Sisters of Mercy in Tarrytown, New York, on Sept. 8, 1955, and along the way received a doctorate in nursing education.

She began her ministry of teaching nursing at Mercy Hospitals in Watertown and Port Jervis. Sister continued that ministry in New York City, Syracuse, Hartford, Connecticut, Worcester, Massachusetts and Hartsdale, New York.

In 2006, she started a new ministry at Mercy Care for the Adirondacks as director of Mercy Care’s Parish Nurse and Mission Integration programs. She recently retired from that position.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, she is survived by her brother Thomas (Beverly Wernet) of Liverpool, New York, and many beloved nieces, great-nieces and great-nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Robert; and her sister, Mary Gertrude.

The M. B. Clark, Inc., Funeral Home in Lake Placid is in charge of arrangements. Please visit www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com to share a memory or leave condolences.