Sister Jane Doherty, OP, died on July 19. She was 83 years old and had been a Dominican sister for almost 64 years.
In her youth, Sister Jane and her family — including father and mother, Henry and Katherine Doherty, sister Kay and brother Hank — worshiped at St. Joseph’s Parish in Long Island City.
Sister Jane attended Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica. On September 7, 1957, she entered the novitiate in Amityville, a member of a group of 76 young women who would come to be known as the Golden Roses. On August 5, 1958, they were invested and Sister Jane received her religious name, Sister Kathleen Michele.
She was professed on August 7, 1959, and assigned to teach in St. Agnes Cathedral Elementary School in Rockville Centre. In 1962, she moved to Brooklyn and taught in St. Joseph Patron, Annunciation (where her students lovingly called her the “gentle giant”) and Good Shepherd Schools.
Sister Jane attended St. John’s University, Jamaica, and Fordham University. In 1970 she returned to St. Agnes to serve as its principal. One of the teachers who worked with Sister Jane remarked that she “was always supportive, wonderful, loving and kind. She was a fabulous principal.”
Nine years later, Sister Jane became the executive secretary of the National Catholic Vocation Council. She lived with the Sinsinawa Dominicans in Chicago. After three years, Sister Jane returned to New York and used her many gifts as a pastoral associate in St. Mary’s Parish in East Islip, followed by eight years as director of religious education in Sacred Heart Parish in East Glendale.
Sister Jane had a deep spiritual life and when illness brought her to Carlin Hall in 2017, the ministry of intercessory prayer was a natural next step in her journey. She had a great love for her family and they were very devoted to her.
Sister Jane’s funeral was held July 23 with a prayer service followed by a Mass in St. Albert Chapel in Amityville. Interment followed in the Sisters’ cemetery.
Sister Jean McLaughlin, SSND, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died on July 22, at age 82.
After pronouncing her vows as an SSND, in 1962 as Sister Marc Marie, she taught at high schools in Trumbull, Conn.; Rochester, N.Y; and Demarest, N.J. Her later ministries included community formation directress, campus minister at Notre Dame of Maryland University, community provincial councilor, parish pastoral minister, spiritual director at Fairfield University, and staff at the SSND Educational Center in Woodhaven, N.Y.
On Monday, July 26, a wake was held at Villa Notre Dame, Wilton, CT, followed by a vigil service that was prayed by the community, family, and friends. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was planned for Tuesday, July 27 at 10 am. Burial was scheduled to take place at St. Mary Cemetery, Bethel, Connecticut, immediately following Mass.
Donations in Sister Jean’s memory may be made to the SSND Development Fund, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, CT 06897, and to the SSND Educational Center, Woodhaven, N.Y., 11421-2501.
