Muriel Barron


Sister Mary Gabriel , whose birth name was Muriel Marie Barron, was a New Zealand religious sister and pharmacist.

Background

Barron was born in Waihi in 1904 to George and Margaret Barron, she was educated at Waihi High School and Waihi School of Mines. She later apprenticed in pharmacy with her father. She was named a Member of the Pharmaceutical Society in 1925.

Religious life

She joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1929 in Auckland and having previously studied music teaching. She took her religious vows three years later, taking the name Sister Mary Gabriel. She taught music at Otahuhu Convent from 1933 to 1937.

Pharmacist

She founded the pharmacy at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in 1937 and served as its primary pharmacist from 1937 until 1975, when she retired. During that time she was a foundation member of the New Zealand Hospital Pharmacists' Association and of Auckland branch of the Pharmaceutical Society. She was one of the first New Zealand pharmacists to be made a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society and the first New Zealand woman to be made a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society.

Death

She died on 29 February 1988, aged 83.

Affiliations/Honours