Sister Margaret Cushman
Sister Margaret Cushman Obituary
Sister Margaret Cushman
(Sister St. Kenneth)
August 19, 1932 to August 13, 2021
It is with deep sadness that The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie announce the death of Sister Margaret Cushman (Sister St. Kenneth) on August 13, 2021, at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse, North Bay, Ontario.
Sister Margaret was born in Capreol, Ontario, the first child of Delvina (nee Brunet) and James Cushman (both predeceased). She is survived by her sister Lorraine Marsh (Don, deceased) and brother, James and Elizabeth (St. Eloi) Cushman and their children, Neila, Sherrill and Maureen Marsh, and Bryn Cushman, Dax Cushman (deceased). Margaret entered the Congregation of The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, on September 2, 1955 having received her Permanent Teacher’s Certificate in the preceding year.
Her teaching qualifications and experience were quickly put to good use. Communities throughout Northern Ontario benefitted from Sister Margaret’s skills as a teacher and principal until 1975 when she turned her attention to learning Spanish in order to join a mission team working in Gualán and Zacapa, Guatemala. Upon her return to Canada in 1978, she assumed duties in parish ministry in Red Lake and Dryden, Ontario then returned to school to receive a Masters in Parish Ministry in 1984. Following this year of study, Sister Margaret resumed parish work in Cobalt, then Heron Bay until the call to serve in the Global South came again. In 1987, Sister Margaret became the Director of an orphanage in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Margaret returned to North Bay to serve her religious community as a member of the leadership team and as Administrator of St. Joseph’s Motherhouse from 1990 to 1998. A much deserved year of rest and renewal followed. Sister Margaret joined Sister Mary Sheridan in serving as parish administrators in the Bahamas at Harbour Island for 3 years with a final mission assignment at Andros in the Bahamas which included the AUTEC Naval Base garnering her acknowledgement from the American Navy for her work there. Margaret’s volunteer experiences included at a school in Elliot Lake and assisting in the congregation’s archives until ill health forced her retirement.
Sister Margaret’s gifts and interests were many and varied. An avid and eclectic reader, a writer of poetry and plays, a Star Trek enthusiast and meticulous chronicler of her travels, she was often described as a woman ahead of her times. She loved her family, her religious community and she loved and worked tirelessly for those who stood on the margins of life.
Margaret’s life in illness continued to witness to others the Sacredness that exists in all of Creation!
The body of Sister Margaret will be received at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 19th. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 20th. During these unprecedented times, it is with regret that The Sisters of St. Joseph will not have a public funeral liturgy. Burial will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery, North Bay, Ontario.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the works and ministries of The Sisters of St. Joseph would be greatly appreciated.
May Sister Margaret rest in peace.
