Sr. Mary Damascene Brocki, CSSF, of Detroit, entered eternal life March 21 at St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia. She was 96, and a religious sister for 78 years.

Casimira Brocki was born on May 25, 1920, the oldest of three girls of Michael and Sophie (Wujcikowski) Brocki. On June 22, 1938 she was accepted into the postulancy of the Felician Sisters in Detroit. First profession of vows was Aug. 13, 1940, and final procession Aug. 15, 1946. She earned degrees from Madonna University and the University of Notre Dame, including her doctorate in 1958.

Sr. Brocki taught grade school at St. Florian, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Adalbert in Toledo. She also taught the Seminary of the Felician Sisters in Detroit from 1949-54. Sr. Brocki’s college teaching career spanned more than 40 years, including as associate professor, professor and academic dean in the English Department at Madonna University.

In 1971, she received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship at the University of Chicago to undertake a program of American Indian historical, cultural, and social studies. Upon her return to Madonna in 1972, she planned and organized the Experiential Learning Program, which has enabled countless adults to complete their college degree and enrich their lives.

In other roles, Sr. Brocki served as the first formation director of the young Felician Sisters, a member of the North Central Accrediting Association, member of the steering committee of the Wayne County High School English Association, and on the advisory board for Alcoholism Education. From 1989-94, she was appointed assistant secretary at the Felicians’ Generalate in Rome. After her return to Madonna, the university conferred upon her an honorary doctorate in educational administration in 2004.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 29 at the Felician Sisters’ central convent in Livonia. Burial was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.