- Date Of Death: March 23, 2015
- State: Louisiana
Mary Lou Suhor, 85, died on March 23, 2015, in New Orleans, La. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Bernard Suhor and Donald Suhor; a sister, Jane Suhor Duffy; and parents Anthony B. and Marie Porte Suhor. She is survived by a brother, Charles Suhor; sister-in-law, Deborah Little; brother-in-in-law Peter Duffy; and 16 loving nieces and nephews.
Her work on Witness was the culmination of decades of dedication to religious journalism and social activism. In the early 1950s she taught journalism at Loyola and was on the staff of Catholic Action of the South, forerunner of the Clarion-Herald. She was instrumental in integrating St. Cecilia Parish and the Sodality Unions in New Orleans, often under threatening circumstances. A strong supporter of unions, she was a member of the American Newspaper Guild and co-founder of a Guild chapter in New Orleans.
She was subsequently named assistant editor of the diocesan weekly, North Central Louisiana Register, in Alexandria, La., winning awards from the Catholic Press Association. She wrote and edited for the JesuitQueen’s Work publications in St. Louis in 1961-63, and taught courses in Racism and Lay Theology on the Summer Schools of Catholic Action circuit. In Washington, D.C. from 1963-73 Mary Lou was on the staff of the Council of International Lay Associations, the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and the Latin American Bureau of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference.
