Obituary: Copenhaver, Sister Mary Hugh Ssmo

COPENHAVER, Sister Mary Hugh SSMO Born on July 11, 1913, Alice Catherine Copenhaver was the oldest of four children, born to James and Alice Copenhaver of Wilbur, Washington.

By the time she started school, her family had moved near Brady, Montana.

Before she entered the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in 1935, she attended Great Falls Business College for a year and then worked in the Brady Post Office.

After entering she was known as Sister Mary Hugh and she attended Marylhurst, earning a BS degree in Education.

Sister Hugh was a skilled teacher and administrator and she served in these schools: St. Mary of the Valley in Beaverton, St. Stephen in Portland, Sacred Heart in Gervais, Visitation in Verboort, St. Mary’s Home for Boys in Beaverton, St. Mary in Stayton, St. Cecilia in Beaverton, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Seattle, where she was the founding principal, and St. Mary in Spokane, serving there for 16 years.

When Sister finished teaching in 1981, she then began serving in her home parish, St. Michael, in Conrad, Montana.

She retired in 2007 at the age of 94!

Sister Hugh continued to stay in the family home in Conrad during the summer months to be near her sister Margaret.

Sr. M. Hugh died on Saturday, February 15, 2014, at the SSMO Motherhouse.

Sister M. Hugh requested that memorial offerings be directed to the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon.

May she rest in peace!