Sister Marietta Crahan was born on June 10, 1930, in Detroit, Michigan, to Gerardine A. (Cronin) and Bernard Earl Crahan. She was the second oldest of eight children, seven girls and one boy. Although baptized Mary Margaret, she was always called Molly until she received the name Marietta at profession. 

Molly was born with a large birthmark on her face. Her parent took her to the Shrine of Saint Joseph in Mount Royal, Canada, where Brother Andre, CSC was still living. Brother Andre took Molly in his arms, blessed her, and gave her mother some Saint Joseph oil, telling her mother to apply the oil to Molly’s face and to pray to Saint Joseph for two weeks. Molly’s birthmark disappeared.

The Crahan family moved a few times before settling in Peoria, Illinois, when Molly was in fifth grade. She attended Saint Mark’s School, where she was taught by Dominican Sisters. She attended evening devotions and sang in the choir. There was a life-size crucifix in the church. Of this she wrote, “I believe that was when and where I fell in love with Jesus Christ.”

Following grade school, Molly attended the Academy of Our Lady, taught by the sisters of Saint Joseph. She spent time with her friends at the Catholic Youth Center. The Center had been started by Msgr. Haas, a cousin of our Sister Mary Callista Haas. By her junior year, Molly and two of her friends considered entering religious life. Molly won a partial scholarship to Fontbonne College in Saint Louis, but she turned it down. After high school graduation in June 1948, Msgr. Haas and his assistant arranged to drive the three friends to Clyde. Molly’s decision became certain after she entered the Clyde chapel.

Molly entered the postulancy on October 2, 1948, and the novitiate on August 11, 1949. She made her first profession on September 8, 1950, receiving the name Marietta after Saint Maria Goretti. She made her final vows on September 8, 1955.

In her early years, Sister Marietta helped in kitchen and in the Correspondence Department. She also helped with the canning, learning how to can apple sauce, juices, and jellies. Her first transfer was to Kansas City in 1956, where she managed the Correspondence Department. She spent time in San Diego before moving to Kansas City and then Clyde, serving as portress and wrote for Spirit&Life. She served as Clyde prioress from 1977-1983. Following her term, she moved to Saint Louis, then to San Diego. When elected to the General Council in 1990, she moved back to Saint Louis, where she served as Secretary General, secretary to the Prioress General, and continued the revision of our office books.

In 1973 Sister Marietta was asked to serve as chair of the Congregation Liturgical Commission. Her first task was to begin compiling the Congregation’s office books. In preparation, she spent six weeks studying at Saint Meinrad’s Archabbey and later attended Saint John’s University. She wrote, “Although I have served generously and willingly in many departments in community, the greatest privilege for me has been to compile and revise our books of prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours. What a privileged sacred task this has been!”

In 2015, failing health caused Sister Marietta to move to Our Lady of Rickenbach. In her last years, she was unable to communicate except by her bright eyes and her smile. Death came gently in the afternoon of May 22, 2023. Her blood sisters, Kathleen Dotson and Eileen Broughton, and a number of community sisters were with her. Sister Marietta is survived by her sisters Kathleen and Eileen, nieces, nephews, and her monastic family. Her funeral liturgy at Clyde and her burial in our Mount Calvary Cemetery were on May 24, 2023.