Sister Mary Carl was born to Carl A. and Agnes (nee Brockhoff) Kotheimer in Youngstown, Ohio May 31, 1926 and two weeks later was baptized Mary Agnes in St. Dominic Church.  She was the third of five children and the only girl in the middle of her four brothers, Carl E.; Dr. William J.; John B. of Stafford, Virginia who survives her; and Richard F. Kotheimer. 

A 1944 graduate of South High School, Youngstown, she graduated from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing with her RN in 1947 and in 1948 received her certification as a nurse anesthetist from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Anesthesia.  She was a staff nurse and nurse anesthetist at St. Elizabeth Hospital prior to entering the Sisters of the Humility of Mary in 1954.  She made her perpetual profession of vows in 1959.

Sister Mary Carl received her BS in Nursing from Duquesne University and MSN in Nursing Administration from St. Louis University.  Her license in nursing home management was given by Ohio State University.

She dedicated her life to serving others in the health care field.  Her ministry in the Youngstown Diocese included serving as a nursing director and supervisor at St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown and St. Joseph Riverside Hospital, Warren.  She was an administrator for Windsor House in Youngstown, Girard and Lisbon and at O’Brien Memorial Nursing Home in Masury.  In the Cleveland Diocese she was associate executive director of St. Joseph Urgent Care Center in Elyria.  After her retirement from nursing home administration, she returned to Villa Maria Community Center where she was director of library services and served in the ministry of prayer until her death.

She taught as an adjunct associate professor of nursing at Youngstown State and at Kent State. She was active in the Ohio Nurses Association, the Ohio League of Nursing and the National League for Nursing; the American and the Ohio Societies for Nursing Service Administrators, the Tri-County Nursing Service Administrators and was a charter member of Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society in Nursing through Duquesne University.  She served on the Board of Trustees of St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center, Youngstown and St. Joseph Hospital, Lorain.

Sister Jean Orsuto, executive director of Emmanuel Community Care Center in Girard, Ohio, shared her remembrances of Sister Mary Carl at the wake service on April 12, recalling how Sister Mary Carl cared deeply for the patients entrusted to her care as nursing director. “She knew what quality patient care was and held us all to her high standards. She was a patient advocate. She also cared about those who worked for her.  She was an advocate for nurses and promoted additional education and development for all the staff.  She was an expert in her field and was an innovative leader in health.  She engaged in ongoing education for herself to keep current in whatever area of nursing she worked in.  We also knew that Sr. Mary Carl was a woman of deep faith and prayer.  Her life was rooted in her love of God and in her desire to live out her life in service of her God and in service of others.”

 Rest in peace, Sister Mary Carl.

 Contributions in memory of Sister Mary Carl Kotheimer may be forwarded to the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Development Office, PO Box 534, Villa Maria PA  16155.

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