Sister James Maureen Egan, G.N.S.H., a member of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, Yardley, Pa., for 66 years, died on Oct. 24, at St. Joseph’s Manor, Meadowbrook, Pa. She was 86.
She entered the Grey Nuns in 1946 from St. Joan of Arc parish, Jackson Heights. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from D’Youville College, Buffalo, and was proficient in American Sign Language.
She spent almost 46 years teaching first grade in Jackson Heights and Corona. She taught at St. Leo’s, Corona, 1952-54 and 1958-69; Blessed Sacrament, Jackson Heights, 1954-58; Our Lady of Fatima, Jackson Heights, 1969-87; and St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, 1987-98. She served on the diocesan Language Arts and Linguistics committees in the 1960s.
Retiring from the classroom in 1998, she continued to minister to the deaf and mentally challenged as she had done for many years. She prepared and signed Masses for the deaf and was visitor and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, bringing the Eucharist to the elderly and homebound.
She volunteered at Mary Manning Walsh Home, Manhattan, and at Rosary House and the Food Pantry at Our Lady of Fatima parish, Jackson Heights. She received an award for her pastoral work with the deaf. She retired to the Grey Nuns Motherhouse last year.
She is survived by two sisters, Sister Marie Cecile, G.N.S.H., and Joan O’Connell of Rockaway, N.Y.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held Oct. 27 in the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Motherhouse in Yardley, Pa. Interment followed in Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem, Pa.
My wife, Kathleen (nee McGee) and I were blessed to be taught by the Grey Nuns at St. Joan of Arc and at Blessed Sacrament. We are always saddened when we hear that one of these sisters, who were so influential in our lives, has passed away. We would appreciate it if the obituaries would list the religious name of the sister (and brothers) as that was the name by which we knew them. Our prayers are always with these wonderful women.