Maryknoll, NY – Sister Miriam Xavier Mug, MM, a missioner, teacher and school administrator in Hong Kong, died March 31, 2015, at Maryknoll Home Care III, Maryknoll Sisters Center. She was 101 years old, was the eldest member of her congregation, and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 71 years

Born on September 22, 1913 in Lafayette, IN, to George F. and Grace Wheeler Mug, Sister Miriam was raised in St. Louis, MO, along with her three siblings, where the family attended St. Rose of Lima Parish. A graduate of Visitation Academy and St. Louis University, both in St. Louis, she entered Maryknoll Sisters in 1943, making her first vows at the congregation’s motherhouse in Ossining, NY, on March 7, 1946, and final vows in Hong Kong on March 7, 1949. She held a BA in education from St. Louis University, from which she graduated in 1936, and spent most of her missionary life as a teacher and school administrator in Hong Kong.

Sister Miriam’s first assignment was to Maryknoll Convent School, Kowloontong, China, where she taught high school math, history and religion from 1946-54. She then served as principal of Maryknoll School, Hong Kong, from 1954-57, returning to teach in Kowloontong, from 1958-61.  She was then named principal of the primary division of the school, a position she held until 1967, when she returned to Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY, to work in promotion for two years.

In 1969, she returned to Kowloontong, where she taught high school English and biblical knowledge, until 1979.  She also served in the congregation’s regional administration from 1977-82, and its finance officer and regional bookkeeper from 1978-87.  She also worked in Hong Kong as a trustee for the Maryknoll Medical and Welfare Association from 1988-2000,  in communication and secretarial services for the China Region from 1988-1998 and a volunteer at the Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong doing clerical work from 1993-2000.

Retiring in 2000, Sister Miriam lived at the Maryknoll Sisters Retirement Home in Monrovia, CA, until 2004, when she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she was part of the Eden Community.

A vespers service will be held for Sister Miriam on Monday, April 6, 2015, at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center at Maryknoll, NY.  A Liturgy of Christian Burial will take place on Tuesday, April 7, 2015, at 11 a.m. in the same location. Interment will be in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery at the Center.