Sister Mary Ninette Haase

Sister Mary Ninette Haase passed away on Oct. 23, 2010 at Mercy Health Center Convent, OKC, OK. Lucille Haase was born to Charles Haase and Mary Blanche Allen Haase in Trail, OK on Oct. 8, 1909. She was the fifth of thirteen children and spent her early years of education in the public school system there. In 1919, Sister Ninette's family moved to Elk City where she attended St. Joseph School and first met the Sisters of Mercy. Following high school graduation, Sister entered the St. Anthony Hospital School of Nursing in Oklahoma City. In 1931, upon graduation from Nursing School, Sister Ninette followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Sister Mary Christina, and traveled to Webster Groves, Missouri to enter the Community of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. During her years of healthcare ministry, Sister Ninette served in Mercy Hospitals in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma. She obtained a BSNE from St. Mary College, Xavier, KS. Her many gifts and skills were sought in various service areas as a supervisor, director, clinical instructor, medical records staff member, patient accounts business office and pastoral services as a chaplain and volunteer. In her later years, Sister Ninette was in residence at Mercy Health Center Convent, Oklahoma City, and she gave daily witness to a gentle, peace-filled Christ to all those with whom she lived and to whom she served. She was a woman of many talents who was first – and foremost – a true daughter of Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, and a loyal, dedicated community member. Throughout her years of service as a nurse, she was known for her loving, sensitive bedside manner and her meticulous oversight for the simplest deeds to make each and every patient feel comfortable and at peace. Sister Ninette was, and has always been, a beloved member of her extended family and her Religious Community. Her cheerful, optimistic nature made everyone around her – family, friends, nursing staff, and Religious Community – feel the presence of God in joy and serenity. She is preceded in death by her parents, her brothers: Carl, Bill, Tom, George, Charles and Larry Haase; and her sisters: Sister Mary Christina, RSM, Cecilia O'Reilly, Rosa Amend, Ruth Murdock, Catherine (Kay) Stephan and Helen Whitmire. Immediate survivors include her beloved sisters-in-law Bonnie Jo Carroll Haase, and Anna Belle Marcotte Haase and many loving nieces, nephews and their children. Others include her beloved Sisters of Mercy, her co-workers, friends, compassionate physicians and caregivers.