On November 24, 2023, at the Quadrangle in Haverford, Mary Susan Morrissey (nee: MacDonald), who had worked as a nurse for fifty years, passed away at the age of eighty-one. It was in Springfield that she spent her childhood, and she continued to reside there with her husband until they relocated to Swarthmore in 2006.
Mrs. Morrissey received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Villanova University in 1964 and her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Archbishop Prendergast High School in 1960. She also received her Master of Science degree in Psychiatric Community Mental Health Nursing from Columbia University in 1970.
As a Clinical Specialist in adult psychiatric mental health nursing, she was awarded board certification by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Among the organizations that she was a part of were the American Nurses Association and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
Throughout her career in the field of mental health care, Mrs. Morrissey successfully held a wide range of clinical and administrative posts. For a period of nine years, Mrs. Morrissey worked as a psychiatric nurse at the Neurological Institute of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and at South Beach Psychiatric Center in New York. In addition, she held positions at the Hall-Mercer Community Mental Health Center of Pennsylvania Hospital, Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital, Crozer-Chester Community Mental Health Center, and the Residence at Presbyterian, which is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Morrissey was also employed by St. Kevin’s Health Ministry as a parish nurse throughout her time there.
A number of organizations, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Scott Arboretum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, and the Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, were among the organizations that Mrs. Morrissey subscribed to. She took pleasure in going on trips with her husband, reading books, and catching up with a large number of long-lost acquaintances.
Her husband of fifty years, Thomas E. “Tim” Morrissey, their daughter Theresa Hilbush (who is married to Matthew), their son Joseph Morrissey (who is married to Rina), and their three grandchildren, Jacob Hilbush, Darren Morrissey, and Fiona Morrissey, are among those who are blessed with her legacy. Both of her brothers, John MacDonald and James MacDonald, as well as her parents, Ronald and Hildegarde Leo MacDonald, passed away before she was born.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Kevin’s Church, which is located at 200 W. Sproul Road in Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064. Friends and family are invited to attend the funeral mass, which will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the Church.
It was soon after the funeral that the body was laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon. Instead of sending flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to Nursing Excellence at Lankenau Hospital, which is located at 100 E. Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania 19096.
