Sister Mary Regina Arnold was born Mary Aline Arnold in Braddock, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1932. She was the second child of Emmons S. and Mary Kinsel Arnold. Her brother, Emmons, was twenty-two months older. At the time of her birth, her father had been out of the church for thirteen years and her mother was a Presbyterian.

When Mary Aline was three years old, the family moved to Homewood, another section of Pittsburgh. Memories of the family’s annual visit to her maternal grandparents in Marysville, Kansas, were happy ones. On one of the visits, Mary Aline’s mother became interested in the Catholic faith and began to take instruction. She was received into the Church in 1937. Both parents received their communion at Midnight Mass that year and Mary Aline and her brother were baptized on December 28.

Mary Aline attended Holy Rosary School in Homewood where she was taught by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She was a good pupil and enjoyed school. When she was in fourth grade, Mary Aline’s father suffered a nervous breakdown. On Good Friday, her brother sustained a concussion from a fall and on Easter Sunday, Mary Aline was rushed to the hospital with acute appendicitis. Her mother, who suffered greatly from arthritis, was a bulwark of strength during this time. Mary Aline learned to prepare meals and to do a good portion of the housework. She was a quiet girl and yet had many friends. She loved reading, doing needlework, and listening to classical music.

During Mary Aline’s sixth year in school, the family moved to Wilkinsburg, another section of Pittsburgh. There she entered Saint James School, which was staffed by the Sisters of Charity from Seton Hill, Pennsylvania. She was drawn to prayer and frequently she went to her room where she had fixed up her May or June altar and pray to Jesus and Mary.

The family moved to Buckhannon, West Virginia in the summer of 1947. Mary Aline and her brother attended public high school, where they were the only Catholics. The call to give herself to Christ grew stronger and she wrote to various active and contemplative orders. While waiting for information, she began a fifty-four-day rosary novena. At the end of the novena, she knew Clyde was the place.

Mary Aline and her mother spent the summer of 1948 with her grandmother in Kansas. At the end of August, they took the train to Clyde. At the time of entrance, Mary Aline was sixteen years old and had completed her sophomore year in high school.

Because if her youth, Mary Aline remained a postulant for nearly a year. She was invested as a novice on August 11, 1949. She made her first profession of vows on September 8, 1950, receiving the name Sister Mary Regina. She made her final vows on September 8, 1955. In 2000, she was in the last group to celebrate their golden jubilees in Saint Louis, along with Sisters Mary Audrey Jones and Dolores Dowling, both now deceased.

During her years in community, Sister Regina served at the monasteries in Clyde; Mundelein, Illinois; Saint Louis, Missouri; San Diego, California; Sand Springs, Oklahoma; and Dayton, Wyoming. As an organist, she moved from monastery to monastery, usually every three years or so. She worked as portress, in sewing, maintenance, main and infirmary kitchens, in the finance office, and as pastoral minister in the infirmary. In Dayton, Wyoming, she was in charge of redistributing altar breads. She served as oblate director in Saint Louis and Dayton and as postulant director for a year in Saint Louis. She served two terms as subprioress in Mundelein and a three-year term as prioress of the Clyde monastery. She was an organist and liturgist for over fifty years. The only place she did not work full-time was the Altar Bread Department.

In failing health, Sister Regina transferred to Our Lady of Rickenbach in 2015. She continued to stitch exquisite cards and bookmarks that were sold in the gift shop.

Death came peacefully in the evening of April 20, 2024. Several days earlier, Sister Regina had suffered a fall. Sister Joan Therese Anderson and a staff member were with her at the time of death.  

Sister Regina is survived by her nephew, nieces, a cousin, and her monastic community. Her funeral liturgy was at the Benedictine Sisters’ Adoration Chapel on April 24, 2024, with burial following in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Clyde.

Sister Regina expressed confidence in God’s love for her and gratitude for her monastic community. She had planned her funeral liturgy on the theme God, With All My Heart I Thank You.