Mary Josephine "Jo" Harsy

Jo’s Vigil and Funeral Mass will be livestreamed below at 1:30, Monday, December 16, 2024

Jo, as she was always called, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to George and Agnes (Kaiman) Harsy. Her parents were married later in life, and Jo liked to recall that her father was born in 1888, in the period of Reconstruction following the end of the Civil War in 1865. He served in the Navy in World War I, and taught in a one-room schoolhouse on Kaskaskia Island, Illinois, before taking on a prominent position in the Internal Revenue Service.

Jo’s mother was one of 12 children and was the first of the family to attend high school. Before marrying George, she worked as a secretary and spoke often of her years working for Rabbi Harrison of St. Louis, a position won by her taking first place in a qualifying exam on Old Testament literature, in which she was self-taught.

Three years after Jo’s birth, she welcomed a little sister, Jane Frances. The two children heard many stories about their father’s teaching on Kaskaskia and about Rabbi Harrison’s saying to her mother that Catholic women were always the best secretaries!

After graduating from Resurrection grade school and Ursuline Academy High School, Jo attended Maryville College, at that time a Corporate College of St. Louis University. She was the only one of her class to qualify to study under the Oxford Honors Program at Maryville. Next was the three-year Masters program at Marquette University. Finally, she did her doctoral work at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. – in each case majoring in Philosophy.

Jo’s career included teaching at the University of San Diego, Georgetown University, several community colleges, and most recently in an adult education program at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo for ten years; teaching courses in theology, philosophy, and literature.

Interspersed with the years of her teaching career were her eight years serving as Research Coordinator for a sub-section of the DeRance Foundation in Milwaukee; at the time, the largest Catholic philanthropic foundation in the world. From 1988-2002, Jo served as Vice-Chancellor in the Diocese of Fargo, under Bishop James S. Sullivan.

Jo was a Consecrated Virgin, a state of life reintroduced by Pope Paul VI in 1970. She was consecrated by Cardinal John Joseph Carberry, Archbishop of St. Louis. In 2001, Jo received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award from Pope John Paul II.

Jo is survived by her nieces and nephews, James, Cathy, David, Tom, and Jennifer; grand nieces and nephews, Ben, Clint, Zachary, Allison, Lorelei, and Ryan; and great grandnephew Stetson.

Jo is preceded in death by her parents and sister, Jane F. Smith.