Detroit — Sr. Mary Canice Johnson, RSM, was a “trailblazer” whose many experiences and ministries “touched lives and touched them deeply,” said those who knew her best.

Sr. Johnson, whose accomplishments included founding the Mercy Education Project in Detroit and helping get the city’s newest Catholic high school, Detroit Cristo Rey, off the ground in 2008, died May 12 after a battle with cancer. She was 81.

“Sr. Canice was kind, patient and soft spoken, but there was steel in that woman. If she thought there was something that needed to happen, trust me, it would happen,” said Sr. Mary Ellen Howard, RSM, longtime executive director of Detroit’s St. Frances Cabrini Clinic and a close friend of Sr. Johnson.

Sr. Johnson’s 64-year ministry as a Sister of Mercy was primarily focused on teaching and educational issues, serving on the faculty of Catholic schools in Detroit, Hazel Park, Bay City, Berkley, Muskegon and Saginaw. She served as chair of the English department at Our Lady of Mercy High School in Detroit/Farmington Hills from 1963-67, and on the faculty of Mercy College in Detroit from 1967-69 and 1972-74. During that time, she also served as regional coordinator of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English, tutored inmates at the Detroit House of Correction and served as a member of the Poverty Task Force of the Social Action Conference of Mercy. But no issue was closer to her heart than the plight of children and adults in Detroit who lacked the ability to read.

“That was behind her founding of Mercy Education Project and her work on the feasibility study for Cristo Rey High School,” Sr. Howard said.

The Mercy Education Project was part of her vision to provide educational opportunities, life skills development and cultural enrichment especially for women and girls living in difficult situations in Detroit, said Amy Amador, executive director of the nonprofit, which honored Sr. Johnson with an achievement award just two weeks before her death.

“Sr. Canice embodied Catherine McAuley’s spirit and was a role model for us,” said Amador. “She was a trailblazer, who took the vision the sisters had for creating MEP and made it a reality.”

In 2005, Sr. Johnson helped direct the feasibility study that eventually led to the founding of Detroit Cristo Rey High School on the city’s southwest side through a joint sponsorship of the Congregation of St. Basil and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The school, which works with Detroit-area businesses and nonprofits to provide internships for students to gain real-world work experience and help defray the cost of tuition, opened in 2008-09.

“It is hard for me to imagine Detroit Cristo Rey ever opening without the hard work, determination and leadership of Sr. Canice on the feasibility study,” said Michael Khoury, president of Detroit Cristo Rey. “Without her work, our students would not have the same bright future.”

In addition to her work in education, Sr. Johnson served as vocations director of the Detroit province of the Sisters of Mercy from 1974-80 and helped develop the model for lay associates with the congregation. From 1981-91, she was associate director of Community Creative, Inc., which helps organizations and religious congregations with collaborative decision-making, evaluation and goal-setting.

Born Nov. 26, 1933, to Henry Hunt Johnson and Helen Josephine (Sheehy) Johnson as Helen Josephine Johnson, she entered the Sisters of Mercy on Sept. 8, 1951, in Detroit and made perpetual vows Aug. 16, 1957.

She earned degrees in English and linguistics from Mercy College in Detroit, the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and the University of Texas. She also studied theology and social justice at the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago.

Sr. Johnson was preceded in death by her parents, brother Bob Johnson, M.D., sister Pat Johnson Shannon and nephew Christopher Shannon. She is survived by her sister, Sr. Brigid Johnson, RSM; nieces and nephews and many great nieces and nephews.

“Canice has been a gift in my life — truly a ‘big sister,’” said Sr. Brigid. “I am so proud of the work she has done, especially for the underserved. All that she did and believed in will continue to inspire me.”

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 16 at the Mercy Center Chapel in Farmington Hills. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.