Benedictine Sister Mary Glenn dies April 27 at age 79

COLORADO SPRINGS. Benedictine Sister Mary Glenn died April 27 at age 79. A Memorial Mass was celebrated May 18 at Benet Hill Monastery.

Sister Mary was born Sept. 21, 1943 in Port Angeles, Washington. She attended Queen of Angels School in Port Angeles and Holy Name Academy High School in Seattle.

In 1965, she graduated from Mount Angel College in Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and entered Visitation Monastery in Tacoma, Washington. Sister Mary made her final profession of vows in December 1969.

She moved to western Colorado in 1971 with Sister Anne Madeleine Brost to start a new Visitation monastery with a more contemplative lifestyle in Whitewater, Colorado, on Kannah Creek. In 1978, they became an independent religious community under Bishop Charles Buswell of Pueblo. They lived a simple lifestyle, offering retreats and hospitality to local groups.

In 2006, the Whitewater sisters were accepted by the Benedictine Sisters of Benet Hill Monastery in Colorado Springs as a mission community. Sisters Mary and Anne Madeleine moved from Whitewater to the monastery in 2019.

Sister Mary accepted the position of Assistant Prioress of Benet Hill Monastery in 2021. She endeavored to model Christ to her community and others through a loving presence and compassionate listening. An avid reader and bread baker, she loved to walk the monastery grounds being nourished by God’s beauty.

In March 2023 she was diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer and entered hospice care.

Sister Mary is survived by her sisters, Patricia and Bridget, brother-in-law Jerry Armstrong, nephews Alex, Taylor and David Smithburg, Curt Armstrong, and their families.