Sister Maria Kim Brech, M.M., educator and missioner to Guatemala for nearly 40 years, died peacefully on Nov. 1, at Maryknoll Sisters Residential Care III. She was 88 and had served as a Maryknoll Sister for 67 years.

Born in Brooklyn, she felt the call to missionary life at age 19, while working as a toll poster for Bell Telephone Company in N.Y.C. Then known as Gloria Margaret Brech from St. Brigid’s parish, Bushwick, she entered the Maryknoll Sisters community in 1945.

After completing studies at Maryknoll Teachers College and the New York Institute of Dietetics, she took charge of the kitchen at the Sisters Center at Maryknoll, 1949-53. She also served in the kitchen and bakery at the Maryknoll Junior Seminary in Mountain View, Calif., 1953-57.

After a parish assignment in South Carolina and one year of language study, she was assigned to utilize her food service skills at the Sisters’ residence in Guatemala City, 1962-1971.

From 1971 to 2000, she worked at Colegio Monte Maria, serving as a teacher, bookkeeper, food service coordinator, librarian and youth ministry leader.

Sister Maria Kim is survived by a sister, Rosemarie Collins of Lindenhurst, L.I.