Please click here to view Sister Mary Paula Cockerham's Funeral Mass via livestream.    

Mary Paula Cockerham, RSM, 66, was born in Baltimore Maryland on April 9, 1958, the child of Mary and Paul Cockerham Sr. Her brother Paul was three years older than she. She was educated in her parish elementary school, St. Jerome's, and at Southwestern High School in Baltimore. She earned a BS in chemistry from Towson State University in 1987. Later she earned a master's degree in chemistry from St. Joseph College in Hartford, Connecticut.

From 1981 to 1991 Paula was employed in the laboratories of the Martin Marietta Company, doing research in chemistry and physics. During that time, she was part of a team which published many scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. She was proud of the fact that she was successful in scientific pursuits, and that she had been part of a team which won the 1986 Lye Award for the best paper at the Martin Marietta Labs.

Paula came to know the Sisters of Mercy at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in inner city Baltimore, and she volunteered in ministry with them. After a full day of work, she would teach in the night programs of the Learning Bank, an adult education program for those who had not had the opportunity to learn to read. She was a Mercy Associate for several years before she entered the Sisters of Mercy in April of 1994.  In 1996 she became a member of one of the first Institute "Collaborative Novitiates", living in St. Louis with sisters from across the United States.

Paula ministered in a variety of ways over her 30 years as a Sister of Mercy. Her inquiring mind and flexibility allowed her to learn skills readily and contribute them in diverse situations. She was an educator, director of aftercare at Marian House, worked in financial administration in a number of ministries, and even developed a ministry in finance in a "virtual office," handling financial matters for schools on the West coast while living in Georgia. She said that a highlight of ministry for her was her years teaching at St. Vincent's Academy in Savannah, Georgia. 

Paula won a Knott Scholarship which enabled her to earn an MA in Nonprofit Leadership at Notre Dame of Maryland University in 2005. She used what she had learned at Seton Keough High School; Caroline Center, a workforce development ministry for women; and at The Villa, a Retirement Center for members of religious communities, all in Baltimore. In Savannah, she worked at St. Mary's Community Center. 

Paula was always interested in multicultural activities and travel outside of the United States. She participated in a mission trip to El Salvador with members of the former Baltimore Regional Community to visit a sister community at Calle Real in 1992. She traveled to Honduras for a course in speaking Spanish in 1993, and she spent a year in Guyana teaching chemistry for nurses and working in hospital finance at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. (2013-14)

Paula served on the Elections Committee for the 2023 Institute Chapter of the Sisters of Mercy; she was also on the Institute Grant Review Committee. She oversaw the vacation house used by the Sisters on Tybee Island, Georgia, taking care of scheduling and upkeep as long as she was able to do so.

While facing serious illness, Sister Paula was courageous and practical, balancing decisions about therapy and quality of life. Her attitude was positive even when the news she had to deal with was discouraging. 

Both her parents and her brother, Paul Glen Cockerham, are deceased. Sister Paula is survived by her cousin Pat Goralski and several cousins in Maryland, and by the Sisters of Mercy, her religious community.

A wake will be held on Friday, August 16, 2024 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 17, 2024 at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church with Rev. Gabe Cummings celebrating. Burial will immediately follow in Catholic Cemetery.