Sister Theresa Monahan, O.P., (Sister Mary John) died on August 23, the feast of our Dominican sister, St. Rose of Lima, and the anniversary of her own final profession. Our beloved sister was called home to the God she loved and served for almost 78 years as a member of the Amityville Dominicans.
Sister Theresa was 95 years old. Born in Brooklyn on January 2, 1927, she was raised in the Manhattan Beach section of Brooklyn.
It was at Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School that she encountered the Dominican sisters and felt the call to religious life. After graduation, she entered the novitiate at Amityville on September 8, 1944. On August 6, 1945, she was clothed in the Dominican habit and received her religious name, Sister Mary John. She professed her vows on August 6, 1946.
Sister Theresa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a Master of Arts in Counseling at St. John’s University, Jamaica. Her initial ministry was in education, and for 27 years, she taught elementary grades at St. Mary, Woodside; St. Catherine of Siena, Franklin Square, New York; Our Lady of Hope, Middle Village, and Incarnation, Queens Village.
In 1973, Sister Theresa spent a sabbatical year at Emmaus House of Prayer in St. Joseph’s, Sullivan County, New York. On her return, she lived
in John XXIII Hall in Amityville and ministered at Queen of the Rosary Academy as an audio-visual specialist. In 1978, she embarked upon a new and vital ministry as an addiction counselor at Veritas Villa in St. Joseph’s and later continued this ministry at Brunswick Hospital in Amityville and at Alternatives Counseling Services in Southampton. For several years, she was an administrative assistant at the Motherhouse in Amityville and lived in community at Our Lady of Lourdes, Massapequa Park, New York. Sister Theresa retired in 2000 and resided first in Rosary Hall and later lived in Carlin Hall.
Sister Theresa was predeceased by her parents and her siblings, and her dear friend, Sister Antoinette Damato. She is survived by her sister-in-law, by nieces, nephews, cousins, and by her loving sisters in community.
Sister Anne McGovern, S.C., (Sister Hugh Francis), a Sister of Charity-Halifax for 73 years, died on August 20 at the age of 93. She was predeceased by her parents, her brothers Hugh and Father Joseph McGovern, and her sisters Patricia, Rita, Carolyn, and Regina.
She leaves her loving sisters, Rose and Margaret, and her brother, John. She is also survived by her sisters in the community.
Sister Anne McGovern entered from Saint Sebastian Parish, Woodside, in April 1948. She was missioned to Saint Peter School in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where she began her ministry as an elementary school teacher. Following this assignment, she served at Saint Pius School in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Saint Mary School in Port Hawkesbury, and Saint Catherine School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, coming back to Saint Peter School, Dorchester, in 1967. Sister Anne returned to her native New York in 1972 to teach at Saint Barnabas School, Bellmore, Our Lady of the Cenacle School, Richmond Hill, where she served for several years and continued on as a substitute teacher there and at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine School, Jamaica into her retirement years. Sister Anne’s ministry was not confined to the classroom. She found herself involved in many parish activities wherever she was missioned — Religious Education, Sodality, the children’s choir, training Altar Servers, the Sisters of Charity Auxiliary, and as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. She never tired of making God’s love visible wherever she was.
Sister Anne McGovern retired and lived at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley, Massachusetts, from 2019 until her death.
A funeral Mass was held on August 29 at Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Wellesley, MA. Interment was at Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Needham, Massachusetts.
