Sister Mary Louise Higa entered eternal life on Monday, July 24, 2023, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll. She was 96 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 72 years.

On April 24, 1927, Sister Mary Louise Hideko Higa was born in Kaupakalua, Maui, Hawaii to Kame (Miyashiro) and Ushi Higa. She had two brothers and seven sisters; her sister Mrs. Theodora Nakagawa and many nieces and nephews survive her.

From 1941-1945, Mary Louise attended Maui High School in Kahului, HI. She then attended St. Francis Hospital School in Honolulu, HI where she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1949. Mary Louise entered the Maryknoll Sisters on February 1, 1951, from St. Stephen’s parish in Honolulu, Hawaii. She pronounced her First Profession of Vows on September 8, 1953, in Valley Park, Missouri, and her Final Vows on September 8, 1959, in Kandy, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).

In 1953, Sister Mary Louise received her first mission assignment to work in the infirmary department at the Maryknoll Sisters Motherhouse in Maryknoll, NY. In 1955, she was assigned to Kandy, Ceylon where she worked as Nursing Supervisor in a government hospital and helped open a maternity nursing home until 1962 when foreigners were expelled from the country. She then earned her certificate in midwifery from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Ireland, in 1962. In 1963, she was assigned to Hong Kong to work at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital as program supervisor and team member of Maryknoll Hospital Home Care Service and Community Nursing Service in Hong Kong.

Sister Mary Louise attended Chaminade College of Honolulu where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies in 1977. She then transferred to the Central Pacific Region in 1978, assigned to Honolulu, Hawaii. There, she worked in the Pastoral Ministry Department from 1978-1998 and functioned as the regional bookkeeper. In 1988 she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll for Congregational Services where she worked in the Archives Department until 1991. She returned to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1991 to do prison ministry and work at Hawaii Interfaith Ministry in Clinical Pastoral Education with a family service agency in Waihiawa. There, she was involved in various ministries including: working with Life Foundation; providing service to people living with HIV and AIDS; bible study at a women’s correctional facility; faith community at Waihiawa; sorting materials for Central Pacific Region Archives, and as assistant infirmarian.

In 2006, Sister Mary Louise semi-retired to Monrovia, California. There she did volunteer work such as driving Sisters to their medical appointments, phone duty, housekeeping, and hospitality work.

Sister Mary Louise returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll in 2015, to fully retire. She remained there until her death on July 24th, 2023.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers Service will be held for Sister Mary Louise on August 17, 2023, at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on August 18, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.