Sister Mary Mark Mahoney, who became known for her prison ministry, died Jan. 11 at the age of 106.

She was born Jan. 11, 1911, in South St. Paul and baptized with the name Veronica. After attending St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Paul, Sister Mary Mark joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1932 and made her final vows in 1937.

She graduated from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul and taught middle school and upper school for 35 years. The schools she taught at included St. Mary in Le Center, St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, St. Stephen in Minneapolis, St. Patrick and Holy Spirit in St. Paul, and St. Michael in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Sister Mary Mark helped found the House of Prayer in Stillwater in 1974 where she served retreatants for eight years. She spent another seven years of service at the Carondelet Center beginning at the age of 83. She spent the final years of her life focusing on prison ministry by writing letters to inmates, which she began at age 87. Sister Mary Mark wrote as many as 50 inmates at one point, according to a 2016 Catholic Spirit article. At the age of 89, her correspondence with one inmate led to testifying in court for that inmate.

A funeral Mass was offered for her at Our Lady of the Presentation Chapel in St. Paul Jan. 17.

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