Sister Kathleen Higgins, M.M., a native of Brooklyn, observed her 70th Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister last weekend. She was one of 39 Sisters marking significant anniversaries in the order at the headquarters in Ossinning, N.Y.

Sister Kathleen entered Maryknoll in 1947. After graduation from Maryknoll Teachers College, she taught primary school in Manhattan’s Chinatown for five years before setting out on foreign mission to Chile.

There, she first dedicated herself to a year of language study and then continued her education ministry in primary and secondary school until 1967, when she shifted to pastoral work.

She served as coordinator of religious education for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade children. In addition, she moderated a parish youth group, taught English and religion, and was middle school principal.

In 1972, she returned to Ossinning, where she worked in information services and direct mail until 1974.  She next spent a year working in New Jersey with the Cuban population before returning to Chile for 10 more years of pastoral and catechetical work, including ministry to women and youth.

During her final two years in South America, she ministered in the slums, to the poor and marginalized through soup kitchens, sewing groups and other types of service.

Since 1984, she has worked in various U.S. mission centers, first at the Center and the Seminary, and then in Manhattan, San Jose, Redwood City, Los Angeles, and finally in Monrovia, Calif., where she remains today.