Maryknoll Sisters

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Elizabeth Marie Burns, a member of the Maryknoll Sisters Eastern U.S. Region, died on April 14, 2018 in Wethersfield, CT.  She was 84 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 62 years.

She was born in Hartford, CT on December 15, 1933 to Elizabeth M. (Farreny) Burns and Perley G. Burns, both of whom are deceased; she had one sister and two brothers.  She is survived by her sister, Mary Ann and both brothers, William and John J.

Elizabeth, known to all as Betty, graduated from Mount Saint Joseph Academy in West Hartford, CT in 1951. She then studied at St. Francis School of Nursing where she received her R.N. in 1954.  On September 2^nd, 1955, Betty entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY from St. Augustine Parish, in the diocese of Hartford, CT.  At her Reception she received the religious name, Sister Maura Brigid.  She made her First Profession of Vows on June 24, 1958 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Vows on June 24^th, 1964 in Korea.

In 1958, Betty worked at the Maryknoll Society’s Seminary kitchen.  She was assigned to Pusan, Korea in 1959 where she worked as a nurse for the next eight years in the Maryknoll Hospital in Pusan.

She returned to the United States in 1967 and earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1970 and her Masters of Science in Community Health Nursing in 1972, all from Boston College.  In 1973, she transferred from the Korea Region to the Maryknoll Sisters Eastern U.S. Region, where she worked at the Connecticut State Health Department from 1973-2005.   She retired after a long career which included:  Hospital Inspector and Consultant, Chief of Licensure and Certification of Medical Facilities, Director of Hospital and Medical Care and finally Chief of Staff for the Department.  For her dedication to the well-being of patients confined to nursing homes in the State of Connecticut, she received the Distinguished Managerial Service Award.

In 2006, Sister Betty was invited by the Pastor of Incarnation Parish to become an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, while also volunteering her services to St. Francis Hospital Home Care/Hospice in Hartford, CT.  From 2008-2013, she became totally involved in pastoral ministry and conducting pastoral visits to the elderly, ill and homebound and led a “Small Christian Community” of women.

Sister Elizabeth died at St. Francis Hospital, Hartford CT.

The wake will be on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, Wethersfield, CT from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  A funeral Mass will be offered at the Church of the Incarnation, Wethersfield, CT on Friday, April 20, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.  Interment will follow immediately after the funeral at Mt. St. Benedict’s Cemetery, Bloomfield, CT.

Maryknoll, NY: Maryknoll Sister, Sr. Theresa Mangieri, educator, counselor and social worker died on April 5^th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY after a short illness.  She was 90 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 70 years.

She was born on January 24^th, 1928 in the Bronx, NY to Antoinette (Taverna) Mangieri and Louis Joseph Mangieri, she was baptized Theresa Barbara. She had one brother, Daniel and three sisters, Margaret, Carmela and Rosetta.  Her parents, brother, and sisters have all predeceased her.

In 1946, Theresa graduated from Walton High School in the Bronx, NY.  She attended Grace Institute in New York City for one year where she studied Accounting; while working as a clerk at the Boy Scouts of America also in New York City. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate as a postulant at the Venard Junior Seminary at Clarke’s Summit, PA on September 6^th, 1947 from St. Angela Merici Parish in the Bronx, NY.   At her Reception on March 7^th, 1948 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center she received the Religious name, Sister M. John Francis.  She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7^th, 1950 and her Final Vows on March 7^th, 1953, both at the Maryknoll Sisters Center; during which time she served the community in various positions.

From 1953-1957, Sister Theresa studied at Maryknoll Teachers College where she earned a Bachelor of Education Degree. In 1958, she then studied Mission Theory at Fordham University in New York, NY, while teaching at St. Anthony of Padua Elementary School in the Bronx. That same year she received her first overseas mission assignment to the Philippine Islands.

From 1958-1977, Sister Theresa served in the Philippines in multiple places and positions which included: elementary school teacher, high school teacher and principal, college instructor, and consultant to a lay administrator. In 1968, she became Novice Mistress of the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Quezon City until 1971. From 1971-1977, she worked in various schools in Baguio and earned a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology at St. Louis University in Baguio on March 13^th, 1977.

After serving 19 years in the Philippines, Sister Theresa returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York and was Coordinator of the Sisters Renewal Program from 1978-1981.  In 1982, she was assigned to Zimbabwe, Africa where she taught in St. Albert’s High School in Mt. Darwin and worked with women: lay and Religious, until 1987.  From 1988-1997, she became Administrator of Mwana Anokosha Home, a residence for unwed mothers in Harare.

In 1997, Sister Theresa returned to the United States and was assigned to the Eastern US Region and to Hendersonville, North Carolina where she worked as a Board Member of Mainstay, an ecumenical organization of volunteers who work to help and find shelter for battered women and their children.  She also helped with Interfaith Assistance Ministry which aids the poor of Hendersonville.

Sister Theresa then returned to the Maryknoll Sister Center in 2009 and served in the Congregation’s Development Department until 2014.  In 2015, Sister Theresa transferred to the Maryknoll Sisters Home Care Unit, where she remained until her death.

A Vespers Service will be held on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 4:15 pm in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.                                         

A  Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 11:00 A.M., also in the Chapel of the Annunciation.

Interment will follow at the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Maryknoll Center grounds.