DELANEY, MARY GERTRUDE (1896-1986)

DELANEY, MARY GERTRUDE, Sister Borden of the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph; teacher, and superior at Chatham, 1947-49 and 1959-62; b. Chatham, 10 Dec 1896, d/o William Delaney and Ann Borden; entered religious life, 1916; d. Amherstview, near Kingston, Ont., 1 Sep 1986.

M. Gertrude Delaney grew up in Chatham, where both of her parents were born, and began to teach in St Michael's Academy in 1918. She was a member of the staff there for many years and principal in the 1930s. In 1940 she was transferred to Barrhead, Alta, as administrator and superior of a new Hotel Dieu Hospital. When her term expired in 1947 she returned to Chatham and succeeded Mother Margaret Anna Dunn as superior. Two years later she was made superior of the community at Kingston, Ont., where she expanded the hospital, appointed a lay advisory board, and created educational opportunities for the Sisters. From 1954 to 1959 she filled the office of provincial superior in the order, and under her guidance a provincial house was constructed in Amherstview, Ont., which contained an infirmary for the sick and elderly from the Canadian and American English-speaking houses.

Delaney returned to Chatham in 1959 and acted both as superior and hospital administrator for another three years. Although well past the average retirement age she volunteered in 1966 as a missionary in the Dominican Republic. For five years she worked with the poor and neglected of that country, until forced by declining health to return to Canada in 1971. During her retirement she organized the archives which the order maintains at Amherstview.