Maryknoll, NY: Sister Joan Toomey died on September 18^th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York. She was 84 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 66 years. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 18^th, 1934 to Hazel (Warner) Toomey and Joseph J. Toomey.  She had one sister, Elaine.  Both parents and her sister have predeceased her.

In 1952, Joan graduated from Dominican High School in New Orleans. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on September 2^nd, 1952 from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in New Orleans.  At her reception, she received the religious name, Sister Lourdes Marie. She made her First Profession of Vows on September 8^th, 1955 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Vows on September 8^th, 1961 at the Maryknoll Convent in Los Angeles, California.

Sister Joan stayed in New York for a few years after making her First Profession of Vows to work at the Maryknoll Seminary kitchen and study at Maryknoll Teacher College from 1956 -1960; there she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. She was then assigned to teach at Maryknoll School for the Japanese in Los Angeles from 1960-1962.

In 1962, Sister Joan was assigned to Hawaii where she taught seventh and eighth graders math and science at the Maryknoll School in Honolulu’s Punahou district until 1969. That same year, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center and worked in data processing; while studying at Pace University for a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, which she received in 1973.  From 1974-1981, she served as Manager of Computer Services and then as Director of the Development Department from 1981-1985, both at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. A woman of many talents, she also served as the Liturgy-Music Coordinator at the Maryknoll Sisters Center from 1974-1986.

In 1986, Sister Joan was assigned to the Hong Kong/Macau Region where she studied language and culture. She then became a full time Lecturer in Computer Studies from 1989-1991 at Hong Kong’s Lingnan College.  Also, from 1989-1995 she was elected Coordinator of the Maryknoll Sisters Regional Service Team and served as an active Board Member of the Maryknoll Convent School’s Educational Trust until 2002.

In 2003, Sister Joan returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to work part time as a volunteer in the Treasury/Special Projects Office until 2014 when she retired.

A Vespers Service for Sister Joan will be held at the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on Thursday, September 20, 2018 at 4:15 P.M.

 Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated in the same chapel on Friday, September 21 at 11:00 A.M. Interment will follow at the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery.

Sister Rosemary Garrity died on September 9^th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, in Maryknoll, NY. She was 94 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 71 years.

She was born in Waterbury, CT on January 10^th, 1924 to Margaret (Nash) Garrity and Frank Garrity. She has one sister, Rita, Mrs. Charles Mallon. She had four brothers:  Rev. Thomas Garrity-a Maryknoll Father, Dr. Joseph Garrity, John Garrity and William Garrity. All of her brothers have predeceased her.

In 1941, Rosemary graduated from Waterbury Catholic High School; after graduation she worked for the American Brass Company in Waterbury, CT.   She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY on October 5^th, 1946; from Immaculate Conception Parish in Hartford, CT.  At her Reception she received the religious name Sister Mary Thomas.  She made her First Profession of Vows on April 6^th, 1949 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Profession of Vows on April 6^th, 1952 in Yucatan, Mexico.

From 1949-1951, Sister Rosemary worked at the Field Afar Magazine, (now known as Maryknoll Magazine).  In 1951, she was assigned to Mérida, Mexico where she spent the next 17 years teaching English, typing and shorthand to girls preparing for higher education in commercial subjects. In 1968, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, to study at Mary Rogers College. There, she earned an Associate’s Degree in 1970 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Organization in 1972.  In 1973, she went to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Service in 1974.   She then returned to Mexico to work in pastoral ministry and social work among the impoverished people of Mexico City until 1982.

In 1982, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to work in the Congregation’s Development Department’s Promotion Office until 1985. She was then assigned to Colonia Mezquital, Guatemala where she worked with basic Christian communities and taught literacy to impoverished women until 1993. She was assigned to Mexico again in 1994 to do pastoral ministry and social work in Oaxaca. In 2001, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she did pastoral care among the elderly Maryknoll Sisters until 2010 when she retired.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Rosemary in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 4:15 P.M.   A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 11:00 A.M in the same chapel.

Sister Rosemary has generously requested that her body be donated to Science.

Sister Mary Elizabeth Keyser died on July 24th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY. She was 98 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 80 years.

Mary Elizabeth was born in Philadelphia, PA on May 3rd, 1920 to Della (Haney) Keyser and Henry Nelson Keyser, both are now deceased. She is survived by her brother, Nelson Keyser and his family.

In 1937, Mary Elizabeth graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic Girls High School in Philadelphia, PA. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Maryknoll, NY on December 7th, 1937 from St. Matthias Parish in Bala Cynwyd, PA in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. At her Reception she received the religious name, Sister Anne Virginia. She made her First Profession of Vows on June 30th, 1940 and her Final Profession of Vows on the same day in 1943, both at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

In 1943, after making her Final Vows, Sister Mary Elizabeth was assigned to San Juan Bautista, CA where she did catechetical work for four years. In 1957, she was assigned to Bethany House (Maryknoll Sisters Nursing Home) in Ossining, NY where she provided aid to elderly Sisters and often assisted with transportation needs for two years. In 1949, Sister Mary Elizabeth received her first overseas mission assignment to Bolivia, South America. Upon her arrival, she studied the Spanish language and then served as Principal of the Maryknoll Sisters Schools in both Cochabamba and Riberalta until 1956.

Sister Mary Elizabeth returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 1958, for Congregational Service in the Development Department doing Promotion in the Mid-West. In 1959, she was assigned to Chile where she served as Executive Secretary, Supervisor of Catechetics and established programs for the ICLA (Instituto de Catequesis Latino American). In addition, she served as the Directress of Carmelite House of Prayer in Santiago and was the Coordinator of the Maryknoll Sisters House in the Chile region until 1992.

In 1992, Sister Mary Elizabeth was assigned to Monrovia, CA where she worked as a volunteer in religious education in the Immaculate Conception Parish and served as RCIA Director of Hispanics for the parish from 1998-2001. She also spent a considerable amount of time doing volunteer work by writing letters to women in prison.

In 2004, Sister Mary Elizabeth returned to NY to retire at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, where she remained until her death on July 24, 2018.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Mary Elizabeth on Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow on Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.

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.            

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Vivian Votruba died on March 22, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY. She was 98 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 77 years.

Vivian was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 3, 1920 to Irma (Cosgrove) Votruba and August Votruba. She had two brothers, John and William, all have predeceased her.

In 1937, Vivian graduated from Villa Sancta Scholastica High School in Duluth, Minnesota. From 1937-1940, she attended the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN to begin the process of earning her Bachelor of Science Degree. On July 2, 1940 she entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Maryknoll, New York from St. Clement’s Parish, in the diocese of Duluth, MN.  At her Reception into the Congregation she retained her baptismal name of Vivian becoming Sister Mary Vivian. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1943 and her Final Profession of Vows on March 7, 1946.

From 1942-1943, Sister Vivian studied at Mount St. Vincent College in New York City and finished earning her Bachelor of Science Degree.  From 1943-1944, she attended classes at Maryknoll Teachers College in Maryknoll, New York.  She then went to Marquette School of Medicine in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she earned a Degree as a Doctor of Medicine in 1947. Sister Vivian spent the next year doing her medical internship at Misericordia Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1948, Sister Vivian received her first overseas mission assignment to Bolivia where she did language study at CalaCala and began her medical ministry at the Maryknoll Hospital in Riberalta, Bolivia. For the next several years, Sister Vivian’s medical work took her to many places around the world: Azangaro, Peru in 1960; Biafra, in Nigeria, Africa, working with refugees in 1969; and back to Peru in Ica and Ciudad de Dios (outside of Lima) in 1970.

In 1982, Sister Vivian returned to Maryknoll, New York to serve in the Congregation’s Development Department’s World Awareness Program until 1985. She then served among the Navajo Indians in New Mexico before returning to Tacna, Peru in 1985. In 1991, Sister Vivian was assigned to Rosedale, Mississippi for three years to do pastoral work.  In 1995, she was assigned to Pogradec, Albania where she did medical and pastoral work, administrative work, and worked with women in need. In 1996, she was assigned to the Maryknoll Sisters semi-retirement home in Monrovia, California where she did volunteer work.  In 2002, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York where she was an active volunteer doing clerical work in the Outpatient Clinic and accompanying elderly Sisters to their doctor’s visits.  From 2006-2008, Sister Vivian served as Co-Coordinator for the Chi-Rho Community at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Vivian on Monday, March 26, 2018 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. A funeral Mass will follow on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.

Maryknoll, NY: Maryknoll Sister, Sr. Aiko Oyabu, died on March 11, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY. She was 84 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 54 years.

Aiko was born in Amino, Takeno-Gun, Kyoto, Japan on October 28, 1933 to Wai (Mizukami) Oyabu and  Masuji Oyabu. She had five sisters, and two brothers. All have predeceased her except her sisters, Tomiko Nakajima, Mitsuyo Ikeda, and Harumi Yoshinari and her brothers, Magoshiro Oyabu and Hiroki Oyabu.

In 1952, Aiko graduated from St. Joseph Nissei High School, in Nishi Maizuru, Japan. She then attended Heian Junior College in Kyoto and graduated in 1954 with an Associate of Arts Degree.  Aiko then taught as a grade school teacher in a School at Novera, Kyoto for eight years before entering the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in the Philippine Islands on June 1, 1963.

At her Reception into the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation, Aiko received the religious name Sister Maria Assumpta.  She made her First Profession of Vows on March 16, 1966 in the Philippines. Then she was assigned to the Maryknoll Girls School in Yokkaichi, Japan to teach English and Christian Ethics in 1972. On January 2, 1972, she made her Final Vows in Japan and studied at Sophia University from 1973-1974. Sister Aiko then studied at Seisen Women’s College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature in 1977. Following graduation from Seisen she returned to teach in Yokkaichi until 1983 when she was assigned to Bolivia.

Sister Aiko’s ministry in Bolivia took her to Riberalta where she did pastoral work and helped form Basic Christian Communities from 1984 to 1987. She was then assigned to Capinota in the mountains of Bolivia and Cochabamba, where she was involved in formation of Basic Christian Communities, pastoral work, home visiting and youth work until 1992. In that year, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY where she worked in the Congregation’s Development Office until 1994. In 1995, she returned to Kyoto, Japan and Kamakura, working with immigrants from Bolivia and Peru and visiting Peruvians in prison until  1997. That same year she returned to Kyoto working with immigrants from Bolivia and Peru and with physically and mentally handicapped people until 2004.  In 2006, Sister Aiko retired to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York and joined the Chi Rho Community working as a volunteer, visiting the elderly and infirm Sisters.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Aiko on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at Maryknoll Sisters Center.  A Funeral Mass will follow on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.