Sister Mary Gerold Mobley, SSND, died March 4 at Anna House at The Sarah Community, in Bridgeton. She was 94 years old. A prayer service was held March 27 at The Sarah Community, and a memorial service followed on March 29 at Sancta Maria in Ripa.
Judith Ann was born March 1, 1929 in Alexandria, Indiana, the second daughter of Elizabeth (Stagman) and Gerold Mobley. She was baptized at St. Mary’s Church on March 10, 1929. Her sister, Geraldine, was 12 years older. Her parents owned the theater in Alexandria, and Judith became a movie fan at an early age.
Judith attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Alexandria for her elementary education and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND). Although she wanted to enter the religious community, she was advised to wait. She attended Ball State Teachers College in Muncie, Indiana, for one year and then transferred to LeClerc College in Belleville, Illinois. With the closing of LeClerc College, she transferred to Mount Mary College (now University) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the age of 21, Judith entered the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa on Aug. 31, 1950. She was received into the novitiate on July 30, 1951, and named Mary Gerold, in honor of her father. She professed first vows on Aug. 1, 1952, and final vows on Aug. 1, 1958.
Following profession, Sister Mary Gerold taught fourth grade at St. Raphael School in St. Louis for two years. During this time, she completed her college education, receiving a bachelor’s degree in art from Webster College (now University) in St. Louis in 1953. From 1954-82, she taught art and graphic design at Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis. Beginning in 1970, she team-taught with Sister Marie Vincent Brothers, SSND.
She received a master’s degree in secondary education administration from Saint Louis University in 1958 and a master’s degree in art from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana in 1963.
In 1981, Sister Mary Gerold taught children’s art classes with Sister Marie Vincent at Kennebunk Beach Improvement Association in Kennebunkport, Maine, in a summer enrichment program. She also served for 25 years at the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore, Maryland (now Notre Dame of Maryland University). In 2008, Sister Mary Gerold and Sister Marie Vincent were honored for their 25 years at the college and their 27 years of summer instruction at Kennebunkport, Maine.
In 2011, Sister Mary Gerold was missioned to Villa Assumpta in Baltimore, where she did volunteer service. She came to Sancta Maria in Ripa in 2014. For one year, she volunteered in the art department at Notre Dame High School in St. Louis. Sister Mary Gerold moved to St. Louis Altenheim in 2017. A fall in October 2018 resulted in a fractured hip and surgery, and she was transferred to Anna House in Bridgeton.
Sister Mary Gerold was known for inspiring students to see the world with new eyes and to find beauty in unexpected ways. On even the hottest days of the summer, she enjoyed sitting in the sun and greeting visitors or sisters returning to Sancta Maria in Ripa from the rocking chair at the gazebo. Her cheerful and gracious manner reflected her deep love of God and God’s creation. She wrote, “Having spent my SSND years in the study of the arts with students seems a grace-filled preview of God’s promise of beauty to each of us for all eternity.”
Sister Mary Gerold was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Geraldine Hasty. She is survived by relatives, friends, classmates, SSND and SSND associates.
Burial of cremains was in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery.
