The Archives does not have a copy of a necrology for Sister Mary Gonzaga. The following summary was compiled by Archives staff.
Date of Entrance: September 7, 1899
Date of Reception: April 6, 1900
Date of First Vows: August 24, 1901
Date of Perpetual Vows: September 14, 1903
Margaret Oliver was born on March 3, 1874 to Isaac Oliver and Jane Arundell or Ogdensburg, New York. On September 7, 1899 Margaret enter the Novitiate of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. After taking first vows, Margaret was given the religious name Sr. Mary Gonzaga. She spent the next three years living at the House of Providence in Kingston and providing home nursing to the sick in Kingston, Smiths Falls, Trenton, Escott and going on collecting tours in Eastern Ontario.
In 1904 Sr. Mary Gonzaga entered the brand new Training School for Nurses at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Brockville. She was a member of the first graduating class on July 9, 1906, which consisted of twelve sister nurses. Upon graduation Sr. Mary Gonzaga was missioned as a nurse at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital until September 1907 when she was sent to St. Francis de Sales General Hospital in Smiths Falls. In February 1908 she returned to the hospital in Brockville, for surgery on a cancerous growth. After her surgery she remained as a nurse in Brockville. In January 1909 Sr. Mary Gonzaga’s health took a turn for the worse and she passed away at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital on February 28, 1909, surrounded by her fellow sisters. Her funeral Mass took place at the House of Providence on March 3, 1909.