Patricia Ann DeMarco, OP, who served as a Dominican Sister of Amityville for more than 65 years, died March 11. She was 84.
Sister Pat was born on February 10, 1938, to Archie and Rose Kelly DeMarco. Her early days were spent in the Bronx where she attended St. John’s in Kingsbridge. The family later moved to Massapequa, New York.
After graduating from Queen of the Rosary Academy, Sister Pat entered the Novitiate in 1956. On August 5, 1957, she was clothed in the Dominican habit and received her religious name, Sister Stephen Francis. She pronounced her first vows on August 7, 1958, and her final vows on August 7, 1961.
Pat’s first teaching assignment was at Sacred Heart, Cambria Heights. This was followed by six years at St. John the Evangelist in Riverhead and nine years at St. Michael, East New York.
In 1976, responding to a deep call to missionary service among the poor of our world, Sister Pat became a Maryknoll Associate.
She was assigned to Bolivia where she lived and ministered in Mineros and Santa Cruz with Maryknoll Sisters. Her Maryknoll co-ministers, especially Anne Marie Kiely and Rita Keegan, became lifelong friends.
During her two-year hiatus back home, Sister Pat ministered at St. Anne’s, Brentwood, and lived in the Formation Wing in Amityville. When she returned home permanently in 1986, she completed her Master of Art degree at Maryknoll School of Theology and lived in community at Las Casas, East New York. A year later, she began her decades-long ministry among the Hispanic communities as pastoral associate, first at St. Lucy/St. Patrick, Brooklyn; then at St. Gertrude, Rockaway, as well as Most Holy Trinity and Blessed Sacrament, Brooklyn.
Sister Pat also ministered at the Interfaith Nutrition Network in Hempstead, New York.
In 1995, Sister Pat joined the Molloy College Theology Department as an adjunct instructor, where she taught scripture and ethics courses and was a member of the Mission and Integrity Task Force for Molloy’s Middle States self-study. She was honored at the College for her 25 years of service. Fluent in Spanish, she was often sought to translate letters and to give talks to Hispanic groups in parishes. After her retirement, the motherhouse beckoned and Sister Pat volunteered as a driver.
Sister Pat’s passion for furthering peace and justice wherever it was being challenged never faded. She served as chairperson of the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Committee for many years and was Justice Promoter for the Congregation. She traveled to Honduras and to El Salvador as part of groups working with refugees. In Sister Pat’s final year she moved to Carlin Hall.
She was predeceased by her parents and her cousin, Michele. She will be missed by her loving brother, Joe, her many friends, and by the sisters in the congregation.
All services took place in St. Albert Chapel at Queen of the Rosary, Amityville, New York, on Wednesday, March 16. Internment followed in the sisters’ cemetery.
Jean René Potvin, a retired professional ice hockey player and a former Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens vice president, died March 15 in Weston, Fla.
He was 72.
Potvin, who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), spent parts of eight seasons with the New York Islanders and played alongside his brother, Denis, on the Islanders during the first two of the team’s four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983.
After he retired from the NHL in 1981, Potvin was a broadcaster for the Islanders and worked as a salesman and trader for numerous investment firms.
From 2013-2018, until his retirement, Potvin served as the vice president, development for Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.
“Jean’s heart was on fire for the work of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, and it was the fire in his heart that drove him to fundraise successfully for the agency and its programs,” said Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, president & CEO of CCBQ. “As a former hockey player, Jean was as persistent as a fundraiser as he was a great defensive player on the ice.”
Potvin was born on March 25, 1949, in Ottawa, to Armand and Lucille Potvin.
He is survived by brothers, Denis and Robert; wife, Lorraine; daughters, Kim and Leslie; son, Justin; and four grandchildren.