Maureen L. McGovern, 73, retired parish-services director

Maureen Lee McGovern, 73, retired director of parish services at St. Cornelius Church in Chadds Ford, died Wednesday, Nov. 17, of heart failure at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

After moving to Chadds Ford in 1977, she and her husband, Clement J. McGovern Jr., became involved in activities at St. Cornelius. When he was ordained a deacon in 1987, Mrs. McGovern assisted him in his ministry. In 1995, he told The Inquirer, "Maureen does as much and even more than I do for the parish. She is director of parish services and is on the liturgy committees."

Mrs. McGovern served on the building committee for the new church, which was completed in 1991. The church was given a positive review in 1992 by The Inquirer's architectural critic at the time, Thomas Hine, who commented on the fine design of the bronze candelabra, lectern, and baptistery fittings. "We tried never to buy anything from the store," Mrs. McGovern told Hine. "Anything we could get made by craftsmen and artists we did, and we are continuing to do so."

Mrs. McGovern was also on the building committee for a parish school for students in preschool through eighth grade. She was principal for primary grades, which were taught in an older building before the new school was completed in 2001.

Mrs. McGovern graduated from Holy Child Academy in Sharon Hill. She and her future husband met at a dance in Ridley Township and married in 1958. They raised five sons and her younger sister.

In 1987, after their children were in school, she earned a bachelor's degree in theology from Rosemont College. She then taught religion in several Catholic high schools.

While working as parish manager, Mrs. McGovern assisted the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with special events and conventions. She retired in 2004.

She and her husband, a retired judge in Common Pleas Court in Delaware County, enjoyed traveling, especially on religious pilgrimages. "We're always looking to experience something of our faith," she told The Inquirer in 1998. One of their most vivid pilgrim moments, she said, was in Fatima, Portugal, when they arrived to discover thousands of people praying and holding candles in the square for a special midnight Mass concelebrated by 300 bishops. "It was absolutely beautiful," she said.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. McGovern is survived by sons Timothy, Terrence, Clement, Francis, and Jonathan; a sister, Valerie McLaughlin; a brother, Ronald Lee; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be said at noon Saturday, Nov. 20, at St. Agnes Church, 233 W. Gay St., West Chester. Friends may call at 11 a.m. Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery, West Chester.