Sister Doris Narvell

Sister Doris Narvell died on February 23, 2023 at Saint Joseph Villa, Flourtown, Pennsylvania.  The Funeral Mass was offered at Saint Joseph Villa on March 1, 2023.

Doris was the fifth of seven children born to Clarence and Elizabeth Narvell.  She was born and raised in Saint Mary Star of the Sea parish in south Baltimore where she attended the parish elementary school and commercial high school.  Doris met the Sisters of Saint Joseph at school and loved all her teachers.

After graduating she decided she would work to help the family with expenses.  The Depression had hit the family hard, and two of her brothers were serving in the military during the war.  Doris spent three years doing office work, but called the convent her “second home” because after work she went there  almost every day to help with typing and whatever else needed to be done.  She said “It was as natural as breathing to decide I wanted to be one of them.”  Doris entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1943.  Sadly both her parents died during her years in the novitiate.

Having received the habit of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and the religious name Sister Saint Clarence, Doris began her teaching ministry in 1945 at Holy Cross, Mt. Airy.  She graduated from Chestnut Hill College and later received her Master’s Degree from Case Western University.  She spent many happy years teaching foreign language in high schools in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Maryland.  She loved languages and used her skills to teach and tutor high school students. She also enjoyed organizing many study trips throughout Europe for the students she taught. She formed life-long friendships with those she met along the way.

In 2003 Doris rejoiced that she was missioned to be a volunteer in McSherrystown where she lived closer to her sister Mary and her family.  She continued offering service to others by teaching Spanish classes in the SSJ housing program and at the parish in Hanover.  In 2018 she was missioned to Saint Joseph Villa. She shared her prayer and presence and the many fond memories of her lifetime.  She believed that she had indeed “received the hundredfold promised in the Gospel.”

In offering words of remembrance for Sister Doris, Sister Maureen Erdlen reflected, “Almost 80 years (after her day of reception) Doris again heard Jesus as he called her home.  Come. . .  and she has now received the crown prepared for her for all eternity.  We rejoice with you, Doris, and are so grateful for your faithful witness.”