Sister Miriam Grace, CSC (Mary Jane Erramouspe)

Sister Miriam Grace, CSC, (Mary Jane Erramouspe), born February 23, 1928, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, passed away on March 11, 2026, at the age of 98.

The third of ten children, she grew up on her family’s sheep ranch with four brothers and five sisters. Her parents, Gaston and Grace (Larre) Erramouspe, were Basque immigrants from southwestern France. Her father had first come to the United States in the early 1900s, served in the U.S. Army during World War I, and returned to France in 1923 to marry her mother before settling together in Wyoming. Mary Jane, known as Mary Jean to family and friends, often spoke of the lasting gifts her parents gave their children: responsibility, honesty, deep love of family, and a strong faith in God.

After attending a one-room log cabin schoolhouse and local public schools, she transferred to the boarding school at St. Mary of the Wasatch in Salt Lake City, Utah, staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She graduated high school in 1946, earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1951, and entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Notre Dame, Indiana, on September 7, 1951. She made her initial profession of vows on August 15, 1954, taking the name Sister Miriam Grace in honor of her mother.

For more than thirty years, Sister Miriam Grace served as a dedicated teacher and principal in Holy Cross schools across California, Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. She earned a master’s degree in education in 1965 while serving as principal of St. Joseph School in Pocatello, Idaho. Later, she held administrative roles at several schools and took on a variety of ministries, including religious education in Ghana, literacy program coordination in Los Angeles, healthcare and senior assistance, and property management for Mercy Housing in Colorado. In 2008, she moved to Saint Catherine by the Sea Convent in Ventura, California, where she remained an active community member, volunteering at a shelter for women and children and supporting her sisters in convent life. She transferred to Saint Mary’s Convent in summer 2025 and died there on March 11, 2026.

Sister Miriam Grace carried her Basque heritage and faith throughout her 74 years as a Sister of the Holy Cross. She is remembered with love by her religious community and the many students, families, and individuals whose lives she touched with her quiet strength, conscientious care, and generous spirit.