Sr. Mary Michaeleen Burns, RSM, died Aug. 8 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Oakland in Pontiac. She was 85 and had been a Sister of Mercy 66 years.

Born in Detroit to William and Julia (Saunders) Burns, she was baptized Julia Ann at St. Margaret Mary Church.

Her early education was at Gesu School in Detroit and St. Joseph Academy, Adrian. She studied at Mercy College, Detroit, for one year before deciding to join the Sisters of Mercy on Sept. 7, 1944. There she received the religious name, Sr. Mary Michaeleen, and following a period of spiritual and professional preparation, made perpetual vows Aug.16, 1950.

A 1954 graduate of Mercy College and a 1963 graduate of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., sister started out studying nursing, but the need at the time was for teachers, so her major changed to education. She left her mark in that area and spent nearly 50 years as teacher or principal at the following Detroit area schools: Our Lady of LaSalette, Berkley; St. Monica, Detroit; St. Anselm, Dearborn; and St. Peter and St. Germaine, St. Clair Shores. She also served in Bay City, Lansing, Manistee and Saginaw.

Those who knew Sr. Burns remember her as a friend to everyone, a loving aunt, a leader in elementary education, a faithful, joyful companion and a woman of prayer.

In 1993, she moved from the formal education scene to pastoral care at Abbey Mercy Living Center in St. Clair Shores. As a semi-retired Sister of Mercy she enjoyed visiting the sick there and also enjoyed living with her sister, Sr. Mary Burns, OP. After her sister’s illness, she moved to McAuley Center in Farmington Hills.

Sr. Burns is survived by a sister, Joan Lane, of Grand Rapids and by many nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Aug. 11 in McAuley Center’s Sacred Heart Chapel. Burial was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.