Maryknoll Sisters

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Rose Corde McCormick, M.M. educator and pastoral care worker died on July 31^st, 2022 at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY. She was 98 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 69 years.

Rose was born in Providence, RI on August 30^th, 1923 to William McCormick and Rose (Coyle) McCormick. She had two sisters, Agnes and Helen and two brothers, Thomas and William, all of whom have pre-deceased her.

In 1940, Rose graduated from St. Patrick’s High School in Providence, RI. Before entering the Congregation, she was employed by the New England Telephone Company from 1939-1953 and then entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Maryknoll, NY on September 2^nd, 1953. At her reception into the Congregation, she received the religious name, Sister Rose Corde. She pronounced her First Vows on March 7^th, 1956 in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on March 7^th, 1962 in Japan.

From 1956-1957, she worked as a staff member at the Maryknoll Magazine Office for The Field Afar, (now known as the Maryknoll Magazine), before being assigned to serve as Secretary to the Vicar General of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers until 1959.

Sister Rose Corde received her first overseas mission assignment to Japan in 1959. Upon her arrival, she completed language study in Kyoto and then served as Parish Minister in several different communities from 1961-1964. She then returned to Kyoto where she taught English and worked in Congregational Administration until 1968.  That same year she returned to Maryknoll, NY to continue her education and in just three years she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Mary Rogers College located at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

Sister Rose Corde went back to Japan to teach English and Christian Ethics at the Yokkachi Girls School. During this time, she also taught English to adults in the local communities from 1971-1976. She then returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY where she managed the Congregation’s Direct Mail Office from 1977-1979.

In 1980, she accepted an invitation to teach at St. Mary’s School on the Island of Yap, Micronesia, in the Central Pacific. She later became Principal where she served until 1992. Then in 1995 she went to Honolulu, Hawaii to serve as the Sisters’ regional secretary and bookkeeper.

In 1996, Sister Rose Corde found herself once again at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY where she was appointed Director of Pastoral Care in the Sisters residential care unit until 1999. Later that year she was assigned to Oaxaca, Mexico where she taught English and did pastoral work with women until 2003.

Sister Rose Corde then returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY where she remained an active volunteer. She spent her time serving as a sacristan in the main chapel and as a companion to ill and elderly Sisters, until she fully retired in 2019.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Rose Corde on Monday, August 8^th, 2022 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Tuesday, August 9^th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. Burial will follow in the Sisters cemetery.

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Teresa Ann Lilly, M.M. died on July 25^th, 2022 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. She was 94 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 66 years.

Teresa was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 28^th, 1927, to Joseph Lilly and (Norton) Lilly. She had one brother, J. Francis Lilly, who has pre-deceased her.

From 1941-1945, Teresa attended St. Agnes Academy, College Point, NY where she was a member of the Leo Honor Society. After graduation she began nurse training at St. Catherine’s Hospital, Brooklyn, NY where she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1948.  She continued working on the nursing staff at St. Catherine’s for the next eight years, during that time she also studied at St. John’s University in Brooklyn.

On September 2^nd, 1956, Teresa entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate, Maryknoll, NY. She pronounced her First Vows on June 24^th, 1959 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on June 24^th, 1965 in Guatemala, Central America.

In 1960 she received her first overseas mission assignment to Guatemala and after six months of language study at Monte Maria she moved to San Pedro Necta where she did clinic work from 1961-1968. She then relocated to Ilopango, San Salvador where she worked with adult groups to aid the development of Basic Christian Communities until 1973.

In 1974, Sister Teresa returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY where she worked in the Congregation’s Development Department doing mission education and promotion work for two years. In 1976 she was assigned back to Guatemala where she worked on the Diocesan Level of women formation in the town of San Pedro Sacatepéquez until 1982. From there, she went to Santa Elena, El Petén, a jungle area, working in women formation in another Diocese from 1982 – 1986. Once again she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY in 1986 where she worked in Congregational Health Services until 1989.

For the last time Sister Teresa returned to Guatemala where she continued to work with women’s groups and aid with the development of Basic Christian Communities in El Milagro and San Jose until 2004.

Sister Teresa then retired and was assigned to the Maryknoll Sisters Retirement House in Monrovia, CA where she did volunteer work in “Rainbows End” and “Foothill Unity” clothing distribution until 2012.  In 2013 she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY, where she remained until her death.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Teresa on August 1^st at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on August 2^nd at 10:00 a.m. also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.