RIP  March 11, 2021

Sister Mary Regina Werntz RSM

1945 - 2021

Sister Mary Regina Werntz, RSM, entered eternal life on Thursday, March 11, 2021, at Sacred Heart Convent, Belmont, N.C. She was 76 and a Sister of Mercy for 59 years.

Born Jan. 9, 1945, she was the daughter of Joseph M. Werntz and Constance Witt Werntz, of Shamokin.

After attending St. Joseph's School, Shamokin, and St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Regina entered the Dallas Sisters of Mercy in 1962. Following completion of novitiate studies, she graduated from Misericordia College in 1968 with a BS in elementary education with a concentration in music. From 1966 to 1977, Sister Regina taught at Catholic elementary schools in Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre and Lancaster, and Bayside, Bethpage and West Islip, N.Y. With a masters' degree in theological studies from the University of Dayton in 1981, she taught high school religion classes at Mt. de Sales, Macon, Ga.; Delone Catholic, McSherrystown; Bishop Hoban, Wilkes-Barre; Charlotte Catholic, Charlotte, N.C.; and Mount St. Mary Academy, Watchung, N.J.

Sister Regina developed her communication skills as a staff writer for Union Scope at the Mercy Union Administration Center, Potomac, Md.; at TSM Creative Services, Pittsburgh; and as Director of Communications for the Dallas Regional Community. She and Sister Mary Ann Brady were co-founders of RSM Creative Services, a unique service which provided hospitals and other Mercy ministries with materials to train lay staff in the spirit and heritage of the Sisters of Mercy. This led to serving in Mission Effectiveness offices at St. Edward's Hospital in Fort Smith Arkansas, St. John's Regional Health Center, Springfield, Mo., and the Development Office at Mercy Health Center, Baltimore, Md.

Sister Regina's most recent years of ministry were spent in service to the Sisters of Mercy as a community coordinator at The Villa Retirement Convent, Baltimore, Md., and in the South Central Archives, Belmont, N.C.

Sister Regina was multi-talented and shared her gifts freely. She authored a book, "Our Beloved Union: A History of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union," published in 1989. She was steeped in Mercy history and loved to share the stories. She played the piano with feeling and wrote numerous hymns based on scripture. Always interested in learning, she looked forward to attending the annual Scripture Institute each summer at Misericordia University, Dallas. In all things, she was creative, knowledgeable, compassionate, generous and outgoing.

Sister Regina was predeceased by her parents and her brothers, Philip, Norman and Joseph.

She is survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara Werntz Benjock; and nieces, Linda Slagle, Hickory, N.C.; and Angela Werntz, Belmont, N.C.

A private memorial Mass will be celebrated Thursday in Sacred Heart Chapel, Belmont, N.C.

Sister Regina has donated her body to science with final burial in Dallas among the Sisters of Mercy.

Memorials can be sent to Sacred Heart Convent, 500 Sacred Heart Circle, Belmont, NC 28012 (care of: Sister Lee Ann McNally, RSM).