Sr. Mary CHM

Sister Mary Charlene Olear, 92, died at Bishop Drumm Care Center, Johnston, IA on November 6, 2017. Funeral services include a Prayer Service Friday, November 10, Bishop Drumm Our Lady of Peace Chapel; rosary, 4 p.m. and Prayer Service, 7 p.m., Sunday, November 12; Mass of Christian Burial, Monday, November 13, 11 a.m., all at Humility of Mary Center, Davenport. Burial will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery, Davenport, IA. Halligan McCabe DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport, is assisting her family with arrangements.

Esther Gertrude was born on September 2, 1925, to Charles and Agnes Claffey Olear in Marshalltown, Iowa. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary on September 8, 1943, and professed vows July 17, 1946.

Sister Mary Charlene received a BA in general education from Marycrest-St. Ambrose College, Davenport, IA and an MA and various certifications as a reading specialist from Clarke College, Dubuque, IA. She did post graduate studies at Iowa State, Drake, Arizona State and Montana State universities.

The 46 years of her teaching ministry included years in Iowa at St. Anthony, St. Theresa and Dowling High in Des Moines and Sacred Heart, West Des Moines. She taught at St. Alphonsus and John F. Kennedy, Davenport; Lourdes Memorial School, Bettendorf and other Catholic and public schools in Iowa, Arizona and Montana. She was principal and teacher at St. Mary School, Centerville.

After retirement in 1992, Sister cared for ill relatives and became very involved in her home parish, St. Mary, Marshalltown. She assisted persons in hospitals and homes, conducted weekly Word and Worship services, and sang in the funeral choir. In 2004 when she “retired for the second time”, returning to Humility of Mary Center in Davenport she wrote, “It was a genuine privilege to be of service to so many people in my own hometown for so many happy years.”

Sister Mary Charlene was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Robert, and sisters Grace Croker, Edna Groover and Rita Daniels.

She is survived by her nieces, Linda Hill, Cindy (Gene) Prusha, and Donna (William) Malloy, other extended family and sisters and associates of the Humility of Mary community.

Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.