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Sister Audrey was born in Erie, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1938, and baptized on November 22 in the parish church of Saint Stanislaus. Her parents John Merski and Eleanore Maras welcomed their daughter into their home as did her brothers Norman and Leroy. The Merski family is well known in the city of Erie for their involvement in local businesses and even politics. When Audrey’s mother died in 1952, her father married Elizabeth Laskowski who had a son John and a daughter Patricia. Sister Audrey continued to be in contact with Patricia throughout her convent life.
Sister Audrey attended the parish grade school that was staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Upon graduation in 1952, she attended Saint Benedict High School staffed by the Erie Benedictine Sisters. When she voiced her interest in religious life, one of the Benedictine Sisters thought her calling may be better served by sharing in the family charism of the Sisters who taught her at Saint Stanislaus Grade School.
Audrey agreed and requested to join the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth and was accepted as a postulant at the Provincialate of Saint Joseph on September 8, 1956. She continued her formation program as a novice on September 11, 1957, receiving the name Carmelita. She continued to have a special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel throughout her life and kept this as her feast day.
She professed her First Vows on August 11, 1959, at the Provincialate in Bellevue, Pennsylvania, and began her life of service and dedication to the members of God’s family wherever she lived and ministered. She chose to offer her life with her spouse, Jesus, our High Priest. Perpetual Vows were professed on August 11, 1965, in Bellevue, Pennsylvania.
Sister Audrey pursued her professional education through studies in Education at Saint John’s College in Cleveland, Ohio, receiving her bachelor’s degree on May 17, 1970. She did her graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh, receiving her master’s degree in special education on August 8, 1972. In particular, her heart reached out to children with special needs. She touched their lives with hope and blessings as members of God’s family.
Primary education was the initial focus of Sister Audrey’s ministry, serving as a primary teacher in grades one and two in Cleveland, Ohio from 1964-1970 and in Allen Park, Michigan from 1959-1964. In 1970-71 she served as a teacher in grade seven in the Pittsburgh area at Saint Malachy School, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. She was also involved in the special education of the students at Holy Family Institute from 1973-1976. After that, she became principal of Saints Cyril and Methodius School in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, before serving on the Pittsburgh Sisters' Council. From 1996-2008, she also became Director of the Mount Nazareth Learning Center, after which she volunteered at Nazareth Prep from 2018-2021.
At a special unit in Weinberg Village called AHAVA, Sister Audrey entered her final resting place on the feast of the Ascension on May 9, 2024, and was welcomed home on May 13, 2024.
As in life, so in death, Sister Audrey reminded us that children show us the way to the Kingdom. May her many acts of touching the lives of children and family bring her eternal rest. To share your messages of remembrance, please visit our Message of Remembrance page. May she rest in peace.
