Sister Shamus Eileen Dwyer, OP, died on Feb. 3. Sister Shamus was 92 years old and had been a Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville for 73 years.
James and Helen Gewert Dwyer welcomed their daughter Anne into their home in Brooklyn. On Sept. 8, 1951, Anne entered the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville as a postulant.
On Aug. 4, 1952, she received the Dominican habit and was given the name Sister Shamus Eileen. Sister Shamus along with the other sisters in her set professed First Vows on Aug. 7, 1953, and Final Vows on Aug. 7, 1956.
Shamus received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Molloy College and a Master of Arts degree from Queens College.
She taught on the primary school level, which she loved, for 36 years at the following schools: Fourteen Holy Martyrs in Brooklyn, St. Barbara in Brooklyn, St. Boniface in Elmont, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lindenhurst, St. Rose of Lima in Massapequa, and Holy Spirit in New Hyde Park.
Services for Sister Shamus Eileen took place on Feb. 7 at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse in St. Albert Chapel with a Mass. Interment was held on the Motherhouse grounds.
Sister Mary Priscilla Weidenschlager, CSJ, died on Jan. 22 while living in St. Joseph Convent, Brentwood.
She was the daughter of John and Caroline (Freiss) Weidenschlager, from St. Aloysius Parish, Queens, where Priscilla attended school. She then went to St. Joseph High School, Brooklyn where she first met the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Sister Priscilla entered the Novitiate in 1956 and eventually received her B.S. in education from Brentwood College in 1963.
Her studies continued at Queens College and St. John’s University in elementary education. She touched the lives of students in St. Patrick’s in Queens, St. Augustine’s and Holy Cross, in Brooklyn, Holy Family in Flushing, and St. Bernard’s in Levittown, New York.
In 1973, Sister Priscilla, having studied special education at Queens College, joined the faculty of St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf in Brooklyn, using her sign language skills for 28 years there, a truly dedicated and beloved teacher. In 2019, she returned home to St. Joseph Convent.
Her funeral was on Jan. 29 in Sacred Heart Chapel, Brentwood, and was celebrated by Father Tom Poth, SM, followed by burial in Calvary Cemetery.
Sister M. Leo Francis Monaghan, OP, died on Feb. 18 after serving over 80 years as a Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville. Sister Leo was 98 years old.
On Sept. 1, 1926, Leo and Mary Monaghan welcomed their daughter Marie into their home in Flushing. The family, which included Marie’s two brothers, Leo and Francis, later moved to Whitestone. Marie attended St. Luke School where she met the Dominican sisters.
Marie continued her education at St. Agnes High School. Shortly after graduation, on Sept. 8, 1944, Marie entered the Sisters of St. Dominic at Amityville. She was clothed in the Dominican habit in August 1945 and received the religious name, Sister M. Leo Francis.
Along with her classmates, the members of the White Gladiola Set, all of whom predeceased her, Sister Leo professed first vows in August 1946 and her final vows in August 1949.
Sister Leo Francis earned her Bachelor of Science degree, as well as her Master of Science degree at St. John’s University, Jamaica. For nine years she taught children on the elementary school level at St. Pancras School in Glendale. This assignment was followed by 14 years in the Science Department of Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brooklyn.
Sister Leo was assigned as an assistant professor at Molloy College, Rockville Centre. Sister Leo Francis remained living on the campus of Molloy College (now University) for 43 years.
Services for Sister M. Leo Francis took place Feb. 25 at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse in St. Albert Chapel, followed by a Mass. Interment took place in St. Dominic Cemetery located on the Motherhouse grounds.