Sister Maureen Coyne, O.P., a Sister of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 56 years, died Dec. 17. She was 74.

She was raised in Woodside and graduated from St. Sebastian School, where she was taught by the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, and then St. Agnes Academic H.S, College Point, where she met the Dominican Sisters.

She entered the congregation on Sept. 9, 1962, and the following year, she received her habit and her religious name, Sister Joseph Marita.

She taught at Sacred Heart, Cambria Heights, 1964-72; St. Boniface, Elmont, L.I., 1972-88; and St. Frances Cabrini, Bath Beach, 1988-95.

In 1995, she was appointed principal of American Martyrs, Bayside. During that time she lived at St. Gregory Intercommunity Convent in Bellerose.

After more than four decades in education, a major ministry shift occurred in 2004 when she became director of pastoral care at Dominican Village, a retirement and assisted living residence in Amityville which is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters. The following year she joined Visitation Community in Copiague where she remained until her death.

She was a lector at her home parish, Our Lady of the Assumption in Copiague, and was also a lector on Sundays at the Motherhouse.

She is survived by her sisters, Joanne, Patricia and Kathleen.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in St. Albert Chapel at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Dec. 21. Burial in the Sisters’ cemetery followed.