Age 98
Kathleen’s love and spirit of service were without boundary. She truly lived the motto she had chosen to have engraved in her ring when she made her final profession as a Sister of Mercy: “whatsoever you do to the least, you do to me.”
Initially an elementary school teacher, she earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York, and master degrees in education from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont.
But, Sister Kathleen gave her heart away to the people of Alaska, whom she served for 40 years in the Archdiocese of Anchorage. She ministered in the Chancery Office and numerous parishes as an elementary school principal, administrator, director of religious education, pastoral associate, and director of family life ministry.
Sister Kathleen responded to those in need. She reached out and made a real difference in the lives of people: the young and the old, those in good health, and others physically or mentally challenged. For ten years, she served members of the JOY community, an archdiocesan group of disabled men, women and children and their families.
Kathleen’s love and spirit of service were without boundary. Her warm and affirming presence brought out the best in others and guided them to appreciate their own giftedness. Sister Kathleen’s final gift to the people she served so well in Alaska was serving as a chaplain at Providence Horizon House, an assisted living facility in Anchorage. She labored to fulfill a dream to build a chapel for seniors there. She collaborated with residents to design a space that was spiritually uplifting, artistically pleasing, and, most of all, easily accessible to disabled people. She shepherded this project to completion.