Sister Denise Nolan, OP (Sister Marie Jonathan), passed away on Aug. 26. She served as a Sister of St. Dominic for almost 62 years. She was 79 years old.

Born in Brooklyn on April 16, 1946, Sister Denise was the only daughter of John and Bernadette Nicholson Nolan.

Along with her brothers, James and John, they lived in Greenpoint. She attended St. Cecilia’s Elementary School and St. Albert’s High School.

It was at St. Albert’s that Denise encountered the Sisters of St. Dominic and, at the end of four years, decided to enter the congregation as a postulant on Sept. 8, 1963. On Aug. 4, 1964, she was clothed in the Dominican habit and received her religious name, Sister Marie Jonathan.

The following year, on Aug. 7, 1965, she professed her first vows, and she professed final vows on Aug. 29, 1970.

Sister Denise began her college career, graduating from Molloy College.

She later completed a Master of Science at Brooklyn College and was awarded a Certificate in Administration and Supervision at SUNY, Plattsburgh, New York.

Sister Denise’s ministry was education, as both teacher and principal. In 1977, she went to St. Frances Cabrini in Brooklyn to help care for her parents, who both passed away within a year of one another. She also taught in the parish school until 1986.

In 1986, Denise was appointed principal at St. Boniface in Elmont and later at Sacred Heart School in East Glendale. She also taught at Good Shepherd and Our Lady of Refuge.

Her long ministry in elementary education was followed by ministries as pastoral associate and director of religious education at St. Mary Star of the Sea, St. Agnes, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

After a well-deserved sabbatical, Sister Denise became a volunteer at the Motherhouse in Amityville, where she served as an advocate for the new Center Light/Pace Healthcare Program.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Aug. 28. Interment followed in St. Dominic Cemetery located on the Motherhouse grounds.