Mary Carter, daughter of John F. Carter and Catherine Sweeney Carter, was born in Witless Bay on February 18, 1902. Little is known about her early life, but it is likely that she was educated by the Presentation Sisters in Witness Bay.
Mary entered the Convent of Mercy on Military Road in September of 1919, was received into the novitiate on July 16, 1920, and given the name, Sister Mary Gabrielle.
Shortly after her profession on July 16, 1922, she was missioned to St. Edward’s Convent on Bell Island. After one year, she went to Burin as a member of St. Ann’s Convent but returned to St. Edward’s in 1926. When Immaculate Conception Convent opened at The Mines, Bell Island on February 2, 1927, Sister M. Gabrielle became a founding member of that community, along with Sisters M. Cecily O’Reilly, M. Alphonsus McNamara and M. Madeline Sophie Aylward. Sisters from St. Edward’s had been commuting daily to the Mines ever since 1919 – by horse and carriage or by horse and sleigh, depending on the season – and the opening of a convent there in 1927 was the realization of a long-held dream.
According to a description of the early days in Immaculate Conception school by Sister M. Madeline Sophie, there were approximately four hundred children in a building that had four classrooms. Sister M. Gabrielle taught the students from grades six to ten. Sister M. Madeline wrote that in such overcrowded circumstances, there was little time for extra subjects, but special emphasis was placed on reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and religion.
A few years after her transfer to Immaculate Conception Convent, Sister M. Gabrielle became ill, but she remained on Bell Island until her death, being cared for by her sisters and the people who had come to love her as one of their own. She died on May 10, 1936, at the age of 34 years and was buried on Bell Island. She is the only Sister of Mercy buried on Bell Island.
Sister M. Gabrielle’s obituary spoke of her as follows:
An excellent teacher and of a quiet and unassuming character,
she won the respect and esteem of religious and pupil alike,
testimony of this being shown in a marked degree by the sorrowing
throngs who visited the Convent chapel on May 10th and 11th…
The Star of the Sea Association on Bell Island arranged a Guard of Honor for Sister M. Gabrielle’s funeral procession, which was accompanied by the Knights of Columbus, a large number of Bell Island citizens, pupils and former pupils. A full choir, assisted by former pupils provided the music to honor a beloved teacher and friend. The obituary noted that the Mother General of the Order, Sister M. Philippa Hanley, and the superiors of the city convents were also in attendance.
