Sr. Mari Garesche, Fmm.

Sr. Mari Garesche, FMMSr. Mari, a member of Ein Karim Community, N. Smithfield, died at St. Antoine Residence, April 4, 2018. She was born in St. Louis, MO on September 29, 1936 to Alexandre Rowe and Grace (Taylor) Garesche. She entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary at Fruit Hill, N. Providence on September 14, 1958. Shortly after her First Vows, March 19,1961, Mari was missioned to teach at Espiritu Santo School in Fall River, MA. After a little over a year, she was sent in mission to Australia and taught in the Regional Catholic School in the nation’s capital, Canberra. Her final vows were pronounced in Mittagong, NSW in 1964. Mari was then sent to Papua, New Guinea for a year, which was a change for her. She found it exciting to meet people of a language and culture that was so far removed from what was usual for her. After completing her MA in Theology at Boston College, she was missioned to N. Providence where she worked in the FMM Communications Office before going to Tewksbury, MA to study CPE or chaplaincy. Soon after, Mari was missioned to St. Petersburg, FL where for three years her ministry was hospital chaplaincy. In 1986, Mari was asked to go to France to work in the Studium in Les Chatelets learning more about Mother Mary of the Passion, the FMM Foundress, and using her French skills there for eight months. She also attended more courses in Rome before going to her next mission, Liberia. There she spent three years as librarian and French teacher in St. Paul’s Seminary in Gharnga. The war in Liberia brought many changes and Mari returned to the US and spent the next ten years in the mission of hospital staff chaplain and community member of St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, NY. The summer of 2000 brought her to Fruit Hill, N. Providence where her ministry was to serve in the Mission Resource Center and do part time pastoral care at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Providence. Then, Mari returned to Roslyn to continue her chaplaincy ministry. Recently, she was missioned to be a member of Holy Family Community at Fruit Hill, Assisted Living and then briefly of Ein Karim Community living at St. Antoine Residence. In addition to the generous sharing of her talents, Mari was known for her quick wit, lovely soprano voice and, gentle, caring ways. Visiting hours will be on Wednesday, April 11, from 4 to 8 p.m. with a Wake Service at 7 p.m. in Holy Family Chapel, 399 Fruit Hill Avenue, N. Providence, and a Funeral Mass at Holy Family Chapel on Thursday, April 12 at 11 a.m.