Sister Elizabeth Marie Scanlon
(Formerly Sister Thomas Marie)
April 2, 1936 – July 14, 2025
Professed August 16, 1956
Elizabeth Ruth Scanlon was the first child of Thomas and Marie Grady Scanlon, born on April 2, 1936. Her brothers, Tom and Jack, were born in 1938 and 1939 respectively. The family belonged to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish on Cleveland’s west side. Mr. Scanlon was a conductor on the New York City Railroad. Five-year-old Betty traveled along one day from Cleveland to Cincinnati, experiencing every aspect of the train as crew members supervised her while her father was busy with his duties. In May of 1944, Mr. Scanlon died suddenly. Their mother was able to stay at home and care for the young children thanks to the railroad pension. Mrs. Scanlon became a Girl Scout leader, drawing the children into a love of camping and outdoor adventures. Betty relished the rustic life, choosing to camp without the conveniences of electricity or heating. The spiritual witness of an older scout, who went to the convent after high school, also made a deep impression on Betty.
Betty traveled across town to high school at Notre Dame Academy on Ansel Road. A lover of books, she admitted to sometimes putting reading ahead of chores or schoolwork. As a Sodality member in her junior year, Betty felt that God was leading her toward religious life. “If God and I both wanted a thing there was no such word as impossible,” she wrote in her autobiography. On the strength of that conviction, she became a postulant on February 2 of her senior year, and in August received the religious habit and the name Thomas Marie, in honor of her dad and her brother Tom.
Sister Elizabeth Marie studied at St. John College, Cleveland, earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 1963, and a master’s degree in 1972. She taught students in grades 2, 3 and 4 over the next 30 years at parish schools in greater Cleveland and northern Virginia. She had 16 different assignments within that time, each lasting 2 or 3 years. In 1988, she began a new ministry of tutoring children in need of additional support in basic skills, serving in that capacity for 15 years. Returning to Chardon in 2003, she assisted in the community library. Her commitment to social justice was expressed in advocacy and in practice: she was a tutor at the Legacy Project, and volunteered with the diocesan migration and refugee services.
She used her computer skills to help sisters with technology. She maintained contact with more than 100 Facebook Friends. She dearly loved her nieces, cousins, and their families; their frequent in-person visits were happy occasions. She used technology to send birthday and feast day greetings to each Sister of Notre Dame, signed with love and a promise of prayer. She compensated for her loss of hearing with hearing aids and the audio transcription tool on her tablet; this method allowed her to participate in a retreat at Bethany a few weeks ago. Sister Elizabeth Marie put her hope in the Lord; she trusted in God’s promise as it unfolded every day. May new life in God’s presence be her eternal joy.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, July 24, at 10:30 a.m. at the Sisters of Notre Dame Center, 13000 Auburn Road, Chardon. Visitation will be from 9:30 until Mass begins. Mass will be live-streamed here. Full Tribute to follow.
To make a donation in memory of Sister Elizabeth Marie, please click here.
