Marcella Schrant was born on June 17, 1926, to Henry and Catherine Etzel Schrant. She was the fifth of seven children. Her siblings included: Marie, Louis, Herman, Ralph, Norbert and Virginia.
Marcella was born on a farm in Walker, Kan. She was baptized at St. Ann Church in Walker on June 18, 1926. She was confirmed at St. Ann Church in Walker on April 13, 1937.
Because the family moved, Marcella’s elementary school years were between a school in Walker and one in Richmond, Kan. Her high school years were spent at Richmond High School.
She attended Ursuline College for one semester and then joined the Ursuline Sisters of Paola, Kan., as a postulant on January 23, 1945. On October 21, 1945, 10 months later, she received her new name of Sister Mary James. She made her temporary profession on October 21, 1947, and went on her first mission that same month.
She spent 43 years as an educator, and principal for one year, in three schools in eastern Kansas. Those included: Holy Name School, Kansas City; St. Agnes, School, a suburb of Kansas City; and St. Patrick/Holy Trinity in Paola.
Along with being a teacher and principal, she also served as major superior for one term, was a receptionist at St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, and an office assistant at St. John the Evangelist Parish, both in Lawrence. She was pastoral associate at Holy Family Parish, Eudora, Kan., and after the merger was a volunteer in the Mission Advancement Office at Maple Mount, Ky.
Sister Marcella, 95, died on September 27, 2021, at Mount Saint Joseph in her 76th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was on Friday, Oct. 1, at 10:30 a.m. in the Motherhouse Chapel, with burial in the convent cemetery.