Funeral Mass for Sister Mary Rose Garcia, OP, who died Monday, April 13, her 94th birthday, at the Mohun Health Care Center, was celebrated Wednesday, April 22 at the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. Burial was at St. Joseph Cemetery, Columbus.
She was born Ida Garcia on April 13, 1932 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to Manuel and Rose (Moron) Garcia.
She received teaching certification in home economics in 1951 from Esuelo Santo Tomas in Cienfuegos, a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1976 from Colegio Universitario Puerto Rico and a Master of Arts degree in pastoral studies in Spanish in 1983 from Barry University in Miami.
She professed her vows as a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de’ Ricci (now the Dominican Sisters of Peace) on Aug. 4, 1955 and spent 68 years in active ministry.
She was a missionary from 1967 to 1980 in Cali, Colombia, and served before and after that period as a retreat staff member, religious educator, pastoral minister and administrator in Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and New Mexico. She was the first Cuban sister to become a naturalized U.S. citizen and was a member of her congregation’s general council from 1990 to 1994.
She had been in a ministry of prayer and presence at the Mohun Health Care Center since 2012.