The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary shared that Sister M. Francis Xavier Grieb, I.H.M. died Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was 91.
According to the congregation, she served in the Diocese of Raleigh from 1955 until 1969. Her service in eastern North Carolina included work in New Bern at St. Joseph Elementary School (1955 to 1959) and William Gaston Catholic High School (1959 - 1969). She was principal of the high school from 1967 until its closure in 1969.
St. Joseph School merged with St. Paul School in 1962, according to St. Paul School’s website, which noted that Father Thomas Frederick Price opened St. Joseph Parish and School in 1887 to serve Black families.
In addition to her work in New Bern, Sister Francis Xavier served as a teacher at Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania from 1952 to 1955, Maria Regina High School in Uniondale, New York, from 1969 to 1975, St. Mary of the Mount High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1981 and Bishop O’Hara High School in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, from 1981 to 1982.
Sister also served as director of candidates and affiliates for the I.H.M. Congregation in Scranton from 1982 to 1992 and coordinator of student affairs at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from 1992 to 1994. She was a core group member and director of retreats at I.H.M. Spiritual Renewal Center in Cresco, Pennsylvania, from 1994 to 2013 and an accounting assistant in the Business Office at the I.H.M. Center in Scranton in 2014.
From 2014 until the time of her death, Sister Francis Xavier was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
She was born June 16, 1931, in Pittsburgh and given the name Helen Cecilia by her parents, Joseph Grieb and Cecilia Flatley Grieb. She entered the I.H.M. Congregation Sept. 8, 1949, and made her temporary profession of vows May 8, 1952, and her final profession of vows Aug. 2, 1955. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics from Marywood College, and a Master of Science degree in science/chemistry from Clarkson University.
She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Thomas, and four sisters, Jeanne Young, Mary Smith, Lois Ann McLean and Catherine McDonough.
She is survived by a brother-in-law, John McDonough of Allison Park, Pennsylvania, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She is also survived by the members of the I.H.M. Congregation.
Interment will be at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, Pennsylvania. Because of restrictions related to the coronavirus, the funeral Mass and graveside service are private.
Memorial contributions may be made to support the retired I.H.M. Sisters c/o the I.H.M. Sisters Retirement Fund, I.H.M. Center, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton, PA 18509.