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January 12, 2017
Mercy Sister Mary Peter McCusker died in Oakland Dec. 6 at the age of 79. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1959 after graduating the nursing program at San Francisco’s St. Mary’s College of Nursing. Sister Mary Peter served as a pediatric nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, San Francisco, and Mercy Hospital, San Diego.
She spent five years in the Altiplano in Peru. In 1991 she became parish nurse at Most Holy Trinity Parish in San Jose. “She once said that her experience in Peru helped her understand how Hispanic people in the parish might find themselves feeling ‘strangers in a strange land,’” the Mercy Sisters said in a statement. She has been honored for her work to provide health care and employment to those with little resources.
Sister Mary Peter retired from active ministry in 2010 spending her final years at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland. “She will be remembered for her sensitive nursing skills, deep compassion for, and ability to meet the needs of, the underzprivileged, and her warm, engaging presence,” the sisters said.
A funeral Mass was celebrated Dec 17 at the sisters’ chapel in Burlingame with interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma.
Remembrances may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame 94010.