Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Mass of Christian Burial for Precious Blood Sister Clara Marie Tumbush was held June 23 at Salem Heights in Dayton. Sister Clara Marie, 90, died June 20 at the Maria Joseph Center in Dayton. She had been a Sister of the Precious Blood for 68 years.

A native of Philothea, Sister Clara Marie served primarily in domestic work and later in nursing during her 50 years of ministry. She performed domestic work in seminaries and episcopal residences, including the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains where she was sacristan for eight years. After being trained as a licensed practical nurse at the former St. Francis Hospital in Cincinnati she served for more than 25 years at Lourdes Hall and the Maria Joseph Center in Dayton, St. Charles in Carthagena and in Indiana.

She retired to Salem Heights in 1990 and volunteered as a nurse there until failing health necessitated her move to Emma Hall at the Maria Joseph Center in 2002.

Interment was in Salem Heights Cemetery.