Maryknoll, NY: Sister Eileen Franz died on November 5, 2017 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, in Maryknoll, NY. She was 89 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 67 years. She was born in Jersey City, NJ on December 3, 1927 to Margaret (Hennessy) Franz and Charles J. Franz, Jr. She has one sister, Regina and one brother, John. Both of her parents have predeceased her, she is survived by both of her siblings.
In 1945, Eileen graduated from St. Dominic’s Academy, in Jersey City, NJ. After graduation she worked for three months at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company before attending St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, in Jersey City where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in 1948. She then worked as a nurse in St. Francis Hospital from 1948 to 1950. Eileen then joined the Public Health Nursing Service of Jersey City from March to August, in 1950. In 1973, she earned a Nursing Refresher Certificate at Mt. Sinai Hospital, in NYC and a Nursing Techniques Refresher Certificate from Pace University, in Pleasantville, NY in 1979.
Eileen entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY. on September 6, 1950 from St. Joseph’s Parish, in Oradell, NJ. At her Reception of the Habit, she received the religious name Sister Marea Consuela. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1953 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.
In 1953, Sister Eileen was assigned to Taiwan where she studied Mandarin and the Hakka languages. In 1956, she was briefly sent to Hong Kong to work in the Sisters Vestment Department at the Maryknoll Sisters Boundary Street Convent and study Cantonese. Sister Eileen made her Final Profession of Vows on March 7, 1959 in Taiwan. From 1957-1967, she did catechetical work and assisted the sick in the parishes of Tahu, Miaoli and Towfen.
In 1968, Sister Eileen was assigned to Hong Kong and worked at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital in Kowloon until 1971; she then returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll NY. There she served in many different Departments at the Center up until her last days: the Wellness Center (out patient care), the Library, the nursing Home, and the Treasury Dept.
A Vespers service will be held on November 8, 2017 at 4:15 p.m. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, in Maryknoll, NY. A funeral Mass will follow on November 9, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.
Sister Eileen Franz-Memorial Video from Maryknoll Sisters on Vimeo.