Memorials Honor Loved Ones, Help Community

When Joe Fleming died in September 2024, a family lost a beloved member, and area nonprofits and faith-based organizations – including us – lost a devoted supporter.

Joe, cousin to Sister Patricia McNicholas, had long volunteered with Ursuline Sisters’ ministries. He was a successful businessman locally, so the executive insights he offered during board and committee work were invaluable.

“He just had a generosity and a wisdom,” remembers Sister Patricia.

That generosity continued after Joe’s passing. Joe’s family honored him with a memorial for Ursuline Sisters Mission, because the good we accomplish meant so much to him.

Many people are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, often read at weddings, which begins, “Love is patient, love is kind.” It was Joe’s favorite passage.

Joe’s wife, Mary Ellen, says their son Kevin observed that they could replace the word “love” with Joe’s name.

“He said often those words in that reading, and that that’s how you should run your business, run your life,” Mary Ellen says, noting that it’s a philosophy their entire family embraces.

“In his memory, his family wanted to keep the work he was so devoted to going,” Sister Patricia says. “What a difference it continued to make in his memory.”

Memorials are a lovely way to honor loved ones and help make the world a better place.

By creating a memorial for yourself or a loved one, you can ensure our care for poor and marginalized people in our community continues, and that the Ursuline Sisters – who devoted their lives to living the gospel – are cared for as they age.

If you’d like create a memorial for yourself or a loved one, you can do so by working with your funeral director.

To set up an estate gift, please contact Sister Patricia, our donor relations director, at 330-793-0434.