Sr. Irene Burns

Sister Mary Irene Burns, RSM, age 80, died on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012 at Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids after a long illness. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18 at the Sacred Heart Convent Chapel in Cedar Rapids by Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial will follow the funeral service at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17 at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids with a wake service at 7 p.m. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral and Memorial Services. Sister Mary Irene was born on July 1, 1932 in Lawler, Iowa, the daughter of Edwin and Irene (Meyer) Burns. She attended Lawler schools and graduated from Mount Mercy Academy in Cedar Rapids in 1950. Following graduation, she entered the Sisters of Mercy Community in Cedar Rapids and received her bachelor's degree in History from Mount Mercy College. Sister Irene's lifelong ministry of teaching music, reading and working in education administration took her all over Iowa, as well as Montana. She served at St. Nicholas, Waterloo; St. Patrick, Garryowen; Immaculate Conception, Elma; St. Matthew, Cedar Rapids; St. Matthew in Kalispell, Montana; St. John, Waterloo; Sacred Heart, Waterloo; and All Saints in Cedar Rapids. In between her years of teaching, Sister Irene earned her Master's degree in Reading and Psychology from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisc. Sister Irene retired in 2001, but continued to tutor students at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids and served as an assistant archivist for the Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community at Sacred Heart Convent in Cedar Rapids. Sister Irene was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Francis Burns; a sister, Delores Burns and two siblings at birth. In addition to the Sisters of Mercy she is survived by a sister-in-law, Marilyn Burns (Jim) Leibold of Lawler; nephews David (Patricia ' deceased) Burns and Owen Burns both of Lawler, Don (Pam) Burns of Rochester, Minn., and Ed (Bridgett) Burns of Norfolk, Va; a niece, Mary Burns (Dale Christensen) of Shorewood, Minn.; five great nieces and nephews; 4 great-great nieces and nephews and several cousins. Memorials may be made to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Drive NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402.