Sister Ethel MacIlvain (Sister Mary Carl), 91, a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, died at Lourdes Health Care Center in Wilton April 26. Born in New York City, December 8, 1922, of the late Ethel Adelaide Nolan MacIlvain and Karl Messenger MacIlvain, Sister Ethel entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph on September 14, 1940, and celebrated her perpetual Profession of Vows on August 24, 1949.

She spent her last years in active ministry as a teacher at St Rose of Lima in Newtown. She was a graduate of the Diocesan Teachers College, West Hartford, with a bachelor ofarts in education and received a bachelor of science in music education from Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. She completed a master's in administration and music education from the University of Bridgeport, and also a sixth yearcertificate in administration/supervision from the University of Bridgeport.

Sister Ethel will be remembered for her kind and gentle spirit. Her interest in all of her staff members and the school parents made her beloved by all those with whom she came in contact. Sister loved her pet dogs and cats.

She also loved expressing herself artistically by teaching piano and music and gathering others to create works of art.

Her Sisters in Community; her sister-in-law Frances MacIlvain; her nieces and nephews; and many friends survive Sister Ethel. Her twin sister, Sister Eileen MacIlvain, RSM, and her brother, Vincent MacIlvain, predeceased her.

Relatives and friends may call at the Convent of Mary Immaculate in West Hartford, Tuesday, April 29, from 3 to 6:45 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 7 pm in St Joseph Chapel. Burial services will take place Wednesday, April 30, at 9 am, from the Convent of Mary Immaculate to the Sisters of St Joseph Cemetery in West Hartford.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of St Joseph, 27 Park Road, West Hartford CT 06119.

Fisette-Batzner Funeral Home, 20 Bonair Avenue, Newington, has care of the arrangements.