Obituary of Sister Mary Frances Serafino

Sister Mary Frances Serafino, 90, died Wednesday, September 9, 2020 Sister Mary Frances Serafino was born in Ganado, Texas. The family moved to Houston and eventually to Duncanville where she attended public schools throughout High School. In Duncanville the Serafinos were the only Catholics in town, so her going to College at Our Lady of Victory was a mystery for everyone in her small town. In 1949 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Mary. Sister Mary Frances worked in Catholic Schools in the dioceses of Galveston-Houston and Fort Worth, serving as teacher and principal as well as music teacher and choir director. She was appointed Director of Novices for the Texas Province in 1960. The novitiate moved to the campus of the newly established University of Dallas in 1961. This was a great place to be in the early days of Vatican II with interaction between scholars and theologians and students! After her religious studies at Catholic University, she was religious education director in several parishes in Virginia and Fort Worth. She also did a great deal of retreat work. She believed that good Christian reading was extremely important, so with help she established a Book Store in Virginia named “Dolphin Tales.” Here there was quiet space for reading, reflection and prayer. She was elected to the General Chapter of the Congregation in 2007. This experience opened her mind and heart to a broader view of the Congregation. Since then she has kept in close contact with our sisters in other countries. In her later years she became involved in mentoring inmates in the Women’s prison in Fort Worth. More recently her greatest love was her active engagement with the Daughters of Abraham, a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish women who work and pray for harmony in our divided world. This group was established after the events of 9/11 responding to a need to understand and respect all peoples. Among her greatest gifts was her ability as a spiritual director, and her deep attraction to Beauty (in the faces of nature and her friends). Sister Mary Frances is survived by her sister, Sister Charles Marie, nieces, nephews, and Sisters of her religious congregation.