The passing occurred early on the morning of April 12, 2014, of Sr. Vianney McCusker, 1918 to 2014. Born Florence Anna McCusker, to her parents, Teresa (nee Toye) and Philip McCusker, Kilgort, Fintona, she spent a happy childhood with her three sisters and three brothers, attending Seskinore Primary School. Later she attended Loreto Convent Secondary School in Omagh and followed a teaching training course in St. Mary’s Training College, Belfast.

After five years teaching in various local schools, she felt called to religious life and entered the Convent of Mercy, Enniskillen, on September 23, 1944. At her Reception the following year, she was given the name Sr. Vianney, and as such she was known to the many Sisters and girls she encountered over the ensuing years.

From 1946 to 1949 Sr. Vianney attended U.C.D., obtaining a Bachelor of Science. Thus began her life work of teaching Mathematics, Science, Botany, Biology and Religion. Her past pupils remember her as a quiet, inspiring teacher, very conscientious and earnest. Her love for nature lit up her classes and walks down by the lake and along the country lanes. Her deep piety was conveyed in her religion classes and in her overall serene demeanour. As Careers Mistress, she helped many students find their paths in life.

Within the Congregation, Sr. Vianney carried the roles of Formation Mistress and Community leader. Ever open to the fresh insights of Vatican 11, she encouraged the novices towards maturity and responsibility, and the community Sisters towards living out a renewed religious life. Her humour and open spirit proved an inspiration to those whose lives she touched. After her retirement from Mt. Lourdes, she continued to help out in St. Fanchea’s and St. Teresa’s, and was keenly involved in the Talking Newspaper for the Blind. Enjoying the freedom from heavy school pressures, she enjoyed walking, knitting, reading and, above all, time for quiet prayer.

Sr. Vianney’s sense of God carried her through her latter years as her health declined and she moved to St. Macartan’s, Clogher, in 2011. Her final illness came quickly and, after just two days in hospital, she slipped away peacefully to the God she had loved and served so well. She was predeceased by her sister Eileen, her brothers Sean, Thomas and Brother Gerry, O.C.S.O., and several members of her extended family.

Her funeral Mass was attended by her sisters, Ita Fitzpatrick, Maureen Malone, nieces, nephew, extended family, Sisters of the Northern Mercy Province and many past pupils and friends. The main celebrant was the Rev. David Donnelly, assisted by Monsignor S. Cahill and Very Rev. N. McGahan, with Sr. Marie Cox leading the inspiring music. Pupils from Mt. Lourdes and St. Fanchea’s bade Sr. Vianney farewell as she was carried to her final resting place in the Convent of Mercy cemetery.