By Mark Guydish
SCRANTON – The burial Tuesday of Sister M. Coleman Nee in St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow closed the door on the life of a religious woman who opened the paths to higher education for thousands. President of Marywood University from 1970-88, Sister Coleman is credited with launching the university’s “Gillet School” in 1981, allowing men for the first time to earn undergraduate degrees through Marywood. Coleman, who died July 9 in Scranton at age 93, also worked to balance the school’s budget while setting up an endowment fund to stabilize income. And she coped with a devastating fire in February 1971 that destroyed the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the religious order that established the Roman Catholic school in 1915. “They say she sat on a chair outside, to see to the students and calm everything,” said Sister Michel Keenan, who knew Sister Coleman from her earliest days studying to join the religious order in the 1940s. Though Sister Keenan worked at Marywood at the time of the fire, she was away when the flames broke out. “She had a good sense of humor but was always a straight shooter,” recalled Michael Foley, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at Marywood. “She was honest and direct, and I found her engaging.” Foley recounted his early days at the school in 1974, when Sister Coleman took over an office he occupied. “I said something to the effect of ‘Sister, I guess I’ll leave because it’s you,’ and she said, ‘Well, that’s very kind of you.’ As if I had a choice.” Coleman is credited with creating a centralized academic computer system, adding 11 undergraduate and six graduate programs and overseeing major expansions, including the $2.4 million Visual Arts Center. Keenan said that Coleman was always open to new ideas proposed by her administrators. In a statement posted on the Marywood website, current President Sister Anne Munley said Sister Coleman’s “steadfast spirit in the face of challenges helped Marywood stand above the rest.” Noting Coleman endured debilitating problems that made it painful to walk, Keenan said “She bore her suffering very bravely and it didn’t deter her great Irish wit or her devotion to community life.’’ Foley said that, after Coleman’s retirement, she taught math at what was then Bishop Hannan High School, a return to her first job in education. “She had style and grace,” Foley said.
