Sr. Mary Stella (Mary Elizabeth) Davis, OSB died on Sunday January 15, 2023, at St. Joseph Monastery, Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was born on May 30, 1926, in Billings, Oklahoma to Estella Maria O’Donnell and John Francis Davis. She received the sacrament of Baptism at Sacred Heart Church, Billings. After attending business school, she entered the Benedictine Sisters in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 1945 and professed perpetual vows on January 2, 1950.
Sr. Stella received a BS in Elementary Education in 1956, Benedictine Heights College, Guthrie, OK and Master of Music Education, from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN in 1968. She held a choir master certificate, was a member of the Organization of Benedictine Musicians and sang for many years in the Tulsa Community Chorus and Hyechka Club.
Sr. Stella taught at McAlester, Duncan, Miami, Henryetta, Okeene and at St. Francis School and Monte Cassino School in Tulsa. She was a gifted musician and composer and served as the sole organist for the community for many years. The music she composed is still used in the liturgy of the community. Sr. Stella loved photography and had a natural mechanical ability. She was also a seamstress and made clothes, altar linens and tablecloths for the community.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Eldon Davis and Catherine Lobsinger. She is survived by the Benedictine Sisters and the Oblates of St. Joseph Monastery and her nieces and nephews.
