Sister Berenice Marie Appel, college librarian

Sister Berenice Marie Appel, 86, librarian at Gwynedd-Mercy College for 23 years, died of heart failure Thursday, Nov. 10, at McAuley Convent of the Sisters of Mercy in Merion.

After becoming librarian in 1973, Sister Berenice Marie oversaw the expansion of Lourdes Library at Gwynedd-Mercy and the establishment of the library's collection of Irish culture, literature, and history. The collection includes a facsimile of the Book of Kells, donated by the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in 1990.

Sister Berenice Marie was a lover of books and history. The nuns in her community said a highlight of her life was visiting Dublin, Ireland, where her religious order was founded by Catherine McAuley in 1831.

After retiring from Gwynedd-Mercy College in 1996, Sister Berenice Marie volunteered in the finance department at Gwynedd-Mercy Academy High School for three years. She then volunteered for several years in the library at Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia. She was a volunteer in the business office at McAuley Convent until becoming ill in April.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Sister Berenice Marie spent eight years of her childhood in Sumatra, where her father was working for an oil company.

When her family returned to the United States, she attended Cecilian Academy in Philadelphia, and she graduated from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School.

She professed her vows as a Sister of Mercy in 1947.

Sister Berenice Marie earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in history and library science from Villanova University.

Before becoming a librarian, she taught in Catholic elementary schools in Philadelphia; taught history at Bishop Kenrick, now Kennedy-Kenrick High School, in Norristown for 10 years; was principal at St. Paul School in Allentown; and taught history at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Delaware County.

Sister Marie Berenice is survived by a brother, Henry; a niece; and three nephews.

A Funeral Mass was said Monday, Nov. 14, at the Convent of Mercy Chapel in Merion. Burial was in the Community Cemetery in Merion.

Donations may be made to Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community, 515 Montgomery Ave., Merion, Pa. 19066.