Sister Eileen Brady Host of Archdiocesan Program “Let’s Talk About God,” Dies at 80
Maryknoll, NY — Sister Eileen Brady, MM, one of two Maryknoll Sisters who hosted the Archdiocese of New York television program, “Let’s Talk About God” in the early 1960s on NBC, died August 2, 2015, at Phelps Hospital, Ossining, NY. She was 80 years old.
An educator and social worker who served in both the United States and Southeast Asia, Sister Eileen was born in New York City on May 12, 1935, to John and Jule Mona Brady. She entered Maryknoll on September 2, 1957, from St. John the Baptist Parish, Yonkers, NY, one year after graduating from Marymount College, New York, NY with a B.S. in chemistry. She received the religious name Sister Maureen John, by which she was known on the TV program, making her first vows on June 24, 1960, at Maryknoll, NY, and her final vows on June 24, 1966, in the Philippines.
Sister Eileen’s first assignment was as a member of the faculty at Maryknoll Teachers College, where she taught from 1960-1963, working on “Let’s Talk About God,” a puppet program for children, on weekends. Then, following completion of an M.S. in Science at St. Louis University in Missouri, she was sent to the Philippines, where she taught at Maryknoll College, Quezon City, from 1963-1969.
Sister Eileen then returned to the United States, where she was enrolled at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, beginning in 1970, earning a master’s degree in social work in 1972.
She then served as Treatment Supervisor at The Children’s Village, Dobbs Ferry, NY, a residential treatment center for troubled boys, age 6 to 13, as well as working in marital and family therapist, with special certification in human sexuality training, from 1972-1996.
Sister Eileen then worked as a child and family therapist at Hallen Center for Education in New Rochelle, NY, from 1996-2000, before being sent to serve on the island nation of East Timor in 2001.
On East Timor, Sister Eileen worked with children and families who were struggling, following the hard-won independence of their nation. She offered Capacitar Training, which teaches holistic health practices, a program supported by a Timorese non-governmental organization. Special seminars followed for leaders, forming “Trainers of Trainers,” who were to spread the message of trauma relief and wellness to others.
Sister Eileen, who returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 2013, is survived by several cousins, including Anita and Bob Arnold, Peekskill, NY; Marilyn and Frank Arnold, Valley Stream, NY; Linda and Bill Denninger, Hauppauge, NY; and Helen Wells, Corona del Mar, CA.
A vespers service will be held for Sister Eileen on August 6, 2015 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center at Maryknoll, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow on August 7, 2015, at 11 a.m., also at the Center. Interment will be in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.
Emusoi Center aims to empower pastoralist girls by helping them gain access to secondary and post-secondary education. Some of our students run away from home in order to avoid early marriage, often helped by their mothers or some relative who understands the value of education. Mariamu was one of these girls. She came to Emusoi and joined the pre-secondary course and then secondary school, finishing at the end of 2014. But she never went home during this time because he father wanted to marry her off. Mariamu will join cookery school in January and she has been helping out at the Center.
However, her usual bubbly spirit seemed a bit dampened recently and she expressed the desire to go home to see her mother and father and siblings. She asked herself are they even alive since she had had no communication from them. She asked one of our staff to accompany her because she was afraid to go by herself.
Mariamu was accompanied by Teika, our Program Officer. They left early in the morning and reached the village after a 3-hour trip. Mariamu’s mother ran to the car and embraced her daughter; both of them crying. But her father was another story. When he saw Mariamu, he said, “who are you?”. He did not recognize her. Mariamu said, Baba (Father), it is me, Mariamu. He looked at her and said, “My daughter is dead. How can you be Mariamu?”
Mariamu holding her niece with her sister next to her
Teika intervened and said let’s sit and talk. She began talking with him, with the traditional greetings, telling him who her father and grandfather are, where she was born and how she works at Emusoi. Slowly, she told him that Mariamu had been in school this whole time and she will continue to study. Mariamu’s father was impressed with Teika because she knew his language and the customs and the proper etiquette. He said to leave him alone for awhile and he began to weep because his daughter whom he thought was dead had returned.
After awhile, he called Mariamu and they talked. The family is very poor and they had nothing to offer the guests, but their neighbors brought tea for them to drink. Teika told the family that Mariamu would return to Emusoi and she will go to school next year. He father accepted this and called all the guests in front of him so he could give Mariamu a blessing along with Teika and our driver and even the car! A beautiful reconciliation had taken place as this “prodigal” daughter had now returned home.
Maryknoll Sisters celebrating 50 years with congregation include, left to right, Sisters Shirley King, Alice Cardillo, Patricia Ryan, Connie Krautkremer, Rosalinda Barrozo, Nora Maulawin, Lucia Yu, Amelia Omana, Susan Glass, and Imelda Bautista.
Maryknoll, NY — Appreciation, thanksgiving and hope marked the Mass offered August 2, 2015, at Maryknoll Sisters Center in which 11 Sisters celebrated 50 years each with the congregation.
“Our evolving consciousness is helping us to a deeper appreciation of the fact that we are all interrelated with all of God’s creation,” commented Sister Patricia Ryan, MM, one of the jubilarians, during her opening remarks to family, friends and Sisters assembled for the Mass. Sister Pat, who hails from Levittown, NY, has worked tirelessly among the people of Peru’s Altiplano for the past 44 years, helping them fight for and renew the ecological health of the land, water and livestock on which their lives depend. “May today be a day of thanksgiving, unity, deepening commitment and profound job for all of us, and may our joy and gratefulness reverberate throughout the universe!”
Commenting on a passage from the Book of Exodus read during the Mass, Sister Connie Krautkremer, another jubilarian, compared the Israelites’ journey and need to trust God with that of the Sisters celebrating their 50th anniversaries. “When we entered Maryknoll, the Second Vatican Council was ending. Change was taking place in the church and in congregations of Sisters. At Maryknoll we welcomed the new freedom about ministry possibilities, ways to live together, and a new appreciation of the role of the laity in the church and mission.
“Life for us was chaotic at times,” she admitted. “We too grumbled now and then trying to find our way. And we, like the Israelites, received what we needed, as we adapted to the signs of the times, to new cultures, climates, languages and so much more.
This sense of finding our way when life seems confusing is something all people experience, she added, in one way or another. “We all wander around sometimes, maybe not in a desert, but we wanted, looking for something, dissatisfied. Jesus promised that no one will be hungry. We will continue to grumble and complain. I know I will. We will ask why and try to get our prayers just right, and that is okay. All of this is part of our dynamic love relationship with God. Only let us remember and promise to receive gratefully God’s bread from heaven and then share it, move it forward as they say, return it intio the community of life so that truly no one is hungry.”
Symbolically, each jubilarian placed a token of their journey at the foot of the altar during the Mass: a turtle which one Sister said symbolized one’s relationship with God; an image of “Pachamama,” the Andean version of Mother Earth; a Hawaiian lei, symbolizing love; a vessel of water, representing life; a birdhouse, representing a safe space; a list of all the women who entered Maryknoll in 1965, representing fidelity and life; a packet of seeds, representing growth; a woven basket, shell, and photo of Maryknoll Sisters founder Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, symbolizing diverse cultures; a pair of shoes, representing walking on sacred ground; and, finally, one Sister, bowing herself, offering herself in service to God and the universe.
Sisters who celebrated their anniversaries at the Mass included:
Sister Rosalinda Barrozo from the Philippines. Sister Rosalinda has worked with immigrants in Hawaii for nearly 40 years, and previously worked in pastoral ministry in the Philippines. Currently she is assistant spiritual director of the Filipino Catholic Club at St. Anthony’s Church, Kailua, HI, where she also serves as lector and Eucharistic minister.
Sister Imelda Bautista from the Philippines. Sister Imelda has served since 1970 in Tanzania, teaching at the university level, as well as in post-apartheid Namibia, helping improve the quality of education and the integration process in Catholic schools under the Bishops’ Conference. She also served on her congregation’s Central Governing Board and as Congregational Treasurer.
Sister Alice Cardillo from Sayreville, PA. Sister Alice has worked as a nurse in Korea for 18 years, 12 of them with leprosy patients. She then worked at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, providing nursing care to elderly and infirm members of her congregation, at the Maryknoll Archives. Sister Alice also volunteers at Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY, in pastoral care services, and was given a certificate of appreciation from the hospital in 2014 for her 11 years of dedicated service there.
Sister Susan Glass from Milwaukee, WI. Sister Susan has spent many years doing pastoral work in Hong Kong and Macau, particularly in ministry to youth. Prior to her work there, Sister Sue taught fifth grade, served as art coordinator, and worked in the Department of Religious Education in Honolulu, HI.
Sister Shirley King from Greensburg, PA. Sister Shirley is the congregational photographer for Maryknoll Sisters, having travelled most recently to Asia, where she captured many of the Sisters at their work. Previously, she worked in health education and catechetics in Bolivia, then as parish administrator and health worker in Peru.
Sister Connie Krautkremer from Montgomery, MN. Sister Connie works in Tanzania, equipping women with skills, self-awareness and empowerment to help them realize their full potential. A past member of the Maryknoll Sisters Congregational Leadership Team and director of the Maryknoll Mission Institute, she has served in Tanzania for most of her missioner life.
Sister Nora Malauwin, a native of the Philippines. Sister Nora has worked primarily as a religious educator in Indonesia and in pastoral ministry in East Timor. She has also served as Creative Productions Writer for the congregation at their Center near Ossining, NY.
Sister Amelia Omaña from the Philippines. Sister Amelia has served primarily in her home country with Maryknoll Sisters. She has worked in finance, pastoral ministry, school and office administration, and with the congregation’s Donor Services Department at Maryknoll, NY.
Sister Patricia Ryan from Levittown, NY. Sister Pat has served the Peruvian people since 1971. During her 44 years there, she has become an ardent advocate and defender of human and environmental rights, especially of the Aymara and Quechua people of the Altiplano, among whom she makes her home.
Sister Lucia Yu from Korea. Sister Lucia is a physician who has treated the sick and infirm in Tanzania, Kenya, her native Korea and the Maryknoll Sisters Center near Ossining, NY. A convert to Catholicism from Buddhism, her work has earned her many awards, including the Korean Medical Association’s Medical Service Award in 2005.
Also celebrating 50 years with Maryknoll in 2015 is Sister Bibiana Bunuan, a native of the Philippines. Currently based in Tanzania, where she will celebrate her anniversary, Sister Bibiana has initiated community-based health care and women’s development programs in both Tanzania and Namibia. She has worked locally to educate people about and bring an end to human trafficking.
Founded in 1912, Maryknoll Sisters is the first US-based congregation of women religious dedicated to foreign mission. Working primarily among the poor and marginalized in 24 countries around the world, they now number 458 members from both the US and overseas.
Maryknoll, NY — Sister Eileen Brady, MM, one of two Maryknoll Sisters who hosted the Archdiocese of New York television program, “Let’s Talk About God” in the early 1960s on NBC, died August 2, 2015, at Phelps Hospital, Ossining, NY. She was 80 years old.
