Sister Seton Marie Connolly, SS.C.M.,”80″
Sister Seton Marie Connolly, SS.C.M., died on June 21, 2026 at Emmanuel Hospice in Danville, Pa. Born in Riverdale, New York, on Dec. 31, 1946, she was the daughter of Michael Connolly, who had been born in Ireland, and Katherine Lyons, who was born in Yonkers, N.Y.
She attended St. Gabriel Elementary School in Riverdale and graduated from St. Catherine Academy. After high school, Sister worked for several years as an administrative assistant in two New York Corporations until she entered the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius on Jan. 4, 1970, and professed her final vows in 1976. She received a BA in Elementary Education from Alvernia College, a Masters in Business Education from Catholic University, and a Masters in education as a Reading Specialist from Bloomsburg University. Sister Seton served for 26 years as a teacher of grades 1, 2, 3 and 8 at St. John Nepomucene School in Luzerne, Pa., at Immaculate Conception School in Berwick, Pa., at St. Simon School in Chicago, at St. Joseph School in Mechanicsburg, Pa., at Holy Trinity School in Yonkers, N.Y., at St. Cyril Kindergarten in Danville, Pa., and at St. Catherine Laboure School in Harrisburg, and as a Principal at St. Andrew School in Waynesboro, Pa., and St. Columba School in Bloomsburg, Pa. She served as a member of the Community leadership Team from 1992-1996, before beginning her Chaplaincy study, first at Geisinger Medical Center and then at Hershey Medical Center. She then served as a certified chaplain at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del., at Geisinger Medical Center, at the Danville State Hospital and at the Hospice at Emmanuel Center in Danville.
Sister Seton Marie often said that as a Sister of Saints Cyril and Methodius, she tried to LIVE WELL — LAUGH OFTEN — and LOVE MUCH … She spoke of thanking God for the countless blessings she received and prayed that she would be a blessing to the people she encountered during her life as a Consecrated Religious. Both as teacher and Chaplain, she was always eager to hear others’ stories, and to both support them in their sorrows and enter into their joys with them. She was a woman who rejoiced in God, and invited others to do the same.
Funeral Services and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, July 3, 2026, at Maria Hall in Danville, beginning with the Rosary at 10:45 a.m., the Wake service at 11:15 a.m., and the Mass of Christian Burial at 1:30 p.m. Burial will be at a later date in the Sisters’ cemetery.
Donations in memory of Sister Seton Marie can be made to the Sisters of Saints Cyril and ethodius, Villa Sacred Heart, 1002 Railroad St., Danville, Pa., 17821.
