Sister Roseanne Ong, Maryknoll Sister for 53 Years

Sister Roseanne Ong, Maryknoll Sister for 53 Years
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Maryknoll, NY: Maryknoll Sister, Roseanne Ong, died on September 25, 2016, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She was 76 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 53 years.

Maxima Corazon Ong was born on May 16, 1940 in Manila, Philippines to Uy Bun Ti (mother) and Kim Siong Ong (father). She had three brothers, and five Sisters.

Maxima graduated from Maryknoll, High School Manila, Philippines in 1957. In 1961, she graduated from the University of East, Manila receiving a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Quezon City, Manila from St. John the Baptist Parish, Manila on June 1, 1963. She received the religious name, Sister Rosanne, at her reception, a name she retained throughout her life.

Sister Roseanne made her First Profession of Vows on March 19, 1966 in Quezon City and her Final Vows on the same date in1970 in Jimenez, Misamis Occidental. Following her religious profession, Sister Rosanne was assigned to a variety of mission ministries in her home country, the Phillipines. She served as Secretary to the high school principal of Maryknoll College, then as Regional Procurator for the Maryknoll Sisters in the Philippine Region, and in 1969 was appointed Principal of the high school department at the College of St. John the Baptist in Jimenez.

In May of 1971, Sister Rosanne came to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York for a renewal program and in September, she left for her new mission assignment to Tanzania in East Africa.

After language study, she served on the faculty at the Nyegezi Social Training Center and in the Business Studies Department. In 1979, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center for Congregational Service, where her training and expertise in business administration were invaluable to the community. While serving in Congregational Services, she secured her American citizenship. In February, 1998 Sister Rosanne returned to Tanzania and taught bookkeeping and mathematics at the Murigha Girls Secondary School in Singida. In March 2001, she became an Assistant Manager/Academic Officer and Matron of the GOIG (Getting Old is to Grow) Vocational Handicraft Centre in Dar es Salaam.

The Mass of Christian Burial, attended by the Maryknoll Sisters of the Region and many friends was celebrated on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.