A funeral Mass was offered June 22 at The Villa in Baltimore for Sister Mary Rose Simms, R.S.M. Sister Mary Rose died June 19 of complications of pneumonia. She was 93.
Born Emily Regina Simms in Baltimore, Sister Mary Rose attended St. Cecilia School in Baltimore and was a graduate of Mount St. Agnes High School in Mount Washington. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1944 and received her bachelor’s degree in education at Mount St. Agnes College, Baltimore, in 1955. She received her master’s degree in music and education at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1969. Sister Mary Rose also received advanced professional training in music at The Catholic University of America from 1971 to 1981.
Sister Mary Rose taught thousands of children as a music and choir teacher in addition to teaching private lessons. She taught music at Mount St. Agnes School from 1947 to 1949; St. Cecilia’s School from 1949 to 1950; St. Bernard’s School, Baltimore, from 1961 to 1962; Mercy High School, Baltimore, from 1962 to 1967; Provincial House, Mount St. Agnes, Baltimore, from 1977 to 1979 and Shrine of the Sacred Heart School, Baltimore, from 1979 to 1982. She taught private lessons again at the Provincial House at Mount St. Agnes from 1982 to 1991. She also taught in Washington, D.C., Florida, Alabama and Rockville, Md.
While serving at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart School, Sister Mary Rose was an extraordinary minister of holy Communion and a choir member.