Sister Clarita Shearer, a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Wheeling, died on Saturday, March 24, 2001 at Mount Saint Joseph. She was 87 years old.
Sister Clarita, born in Beall’s Mill, West Virginia, was the daughter of John W. and Elizabeth Mulvaney Shearer. She was baptized Agnes Marie Shearer at St. Bernard’s Church in Camden, West Virginia, and attended St. Patrick’s Grade and High Schools in Weston. In August of 1931, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph. She attended Fairmont State College and Duquesne University receiving a B. Ed. in elementary education.
Sister Clarita’s ministry as a Sister of St. Joseph includes over fifty-five years of teaching primary grades throughout West Virginia. She is especially remembered by former students and parents of Cathedral Grade School in Wheeling, where she taught for twenty years, and of St. Mary’s School in South Wheeling, where she was superior in principal for five years. She also taught at St. Vincent’s, Sacred Heart, Blessed Trinity, and Corpus Christi, all in Wheeling; as well as at St. Francis Borgia School in Grasselli, St. Agnes in Charleston, St. Joseph in Huntington, and St. Mary’s in Clarksburg. Sister Clarita was the first principal of St. Francis de Sales School in Beckley when it opened. Recently she was fondly remembered by the people of Beckley during a gathering to renew friendships with the congregation. Although Sister Clarita retired from teaching in 1988, she continued to tutor three days a week at Cathedral Grade School. She moved to Mount St. Joseph in 1993 and became actively involved in the Prayer Ministry Program. She was dedicated to the ministry of caring for the sick and bereaved families with whom she communicated, assuring them of a remembrance in the prayers of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Sister Clarita is survived by a brother, Lawrence J. Shearer, of St. Mary’s, Ohio, by several nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless friends.
Family and friends will be received from 1:30 – 9:00 p.m. on Monday, March 26 at Mount Saint Joseph, 137 Mount St. Joseph Road, Wheeling, West Virginia, where Vigil Services will be held at 7:00 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March, 27, 2001, in the Mount St. Joseph Chapel with the Rev. Joseph Hayden, SJ as celebrant. Interment in Mount Calvary Cemetery in the Sisters of St. Joseph Section.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wheeling Foundation, 137 Mount St. Joseph Road, Wheeling, WV.
We’re sorry to hear of your loss. You’re in our thoughts and prayers. It sounds like Sister Agnes has had quite a life in the service of the Lord and in teaching children.