Sister Mary Albertine Paulus, a Sister of Mercy who established the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Knoxville, died peacefully at the Mercy Convent in Nashville on Oct. 23, 2022. She was 93 and served as a Sister of Mercy for 73 years.
A public funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville on Oct. 31. The Mass was livestreamed at dioknox.org and on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel. A private funeral will be held later at Mercy Convent in Nashville, followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery.
Sister Albertine was born in Ithaca, N.Y., but grew up in Knoxville, where her father was a professor at the University of Tennessee. After attending UT for a couple of years, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in February 1949. Sister earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at Edgecliff College in Cincinnati and Peabody College in Nashville.
She taught for 32 years in schools in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville, as well as Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio.
In 1977, Sister Albertine became a board member for St. Mary’s Medical Center in Knoxville, which had been founded by the Sisters of Mercy. Her role on the board began a long association with the medical center.
“I can remember meeting Sister Albertine for the very first time. She oversaw part of the liturgy at my ordination as bishop and she had a whole list of things that she wanted to do, so we ‘negotiated.’ She had definite opinions and ideas,” Bishop Richard Stika said.
At her retirement from her roles with the Diocese of Knoxville in 2009, Sister said she didn’t plan to dwell on her legacy. “We all do what we can while we’re here on this earth. It’s about doing the best you can while you have the chance. After that, it’s all in the Lord’s hands because it’s his work, not ours.”
This information was first published in the Tennessee Register.