Sr. M. Michaelinda Szwast, 86, a Sister of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio, died Aug. 31 at Rosary Care Center in Sylvania, Ohio. Sr. Szwast came to the convent from St. Ladislaus Parish in Hamtramck in 1946, made her first profession of vows in 1949, final vows in 1952. She earned degrees from the University of Detroit, and for almost 42 years taught in elementary schools in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and New Mexico.

In Michigan, she taught at Our Lady Queen of Heaven in Detroit (1953-57), St. Ladislaus in Hamtramck (1958-59), and St. Stanislaus in Wyandotte (1978-81).

Sr. Szwast spent 21 years in her later life tutoring students from elementary school to college at the Teacher Center on the campus of the Sisters and eventually became the director of the center. In 1977, she received the Outstanding Science Teacher Award in Columbus, Ohio, and the Miriam Joseph Farrell Award in Chicago. She was a member of the Catholic War Vets Auxiliary 630 in Toledo.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 11 at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis in Sylvania, Ohio. Interment will be in Porta Coeli Cemetery on the campus of the Sisters.