Ossining, N.Y., Nov. 24, 2025 – Sister Jane Heckathorn, M.M., a Maryknoll sister known for her sense of humor and flair for storytelling, died on Nov. 10, 2025, surrounded by her Maryknoll family. She was 89.
Marie Jane Heckathorn was born on August 2, 1936, to Leonard T. and Lavina Kranz Heckathorn in Watertown, South Dakota; she had two sisters and one brother, both of whom have predeceased her. She graduated from Watertown High School in 1954, after which she received her certificate as an X-Ray technician in 1957 from Minneapolis General Hospital, a program of the University of Minnesota. She worked as an x-ray technician in South Dakota for seven years before entering Maryknoll in 1963. She pronounced first vows on June 24, 1966, at Maryknoll, N.Y., and final vows on April 9, 1975, in the Philippines.
Sr. Jane was assigned to the Philippines in 1966, where she worked in various health services in Manila and in Cotabato in the southern island of Mindanao. In 1972, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from the Centro Escolar University in Manila. She then worked in social and community development in Mindanao with a diverse population of Muslims, Christians and native tribes. Sr. Jane also helped in the resettlement and care of displaced persons, as well as doing outreach health care for women’s groups in nutrition, childcare and hygiene at the Notre Dame Clinic in Dulawan, Maguindanao.
Between 1974 and 1978, Sr. Jane worked in various capacities at Notre Dame Schools in Cotabato, as teacher, acting principal, acting treasurer and as a professional development provider. She also helped to develop programs for victims of an earthquake and tsunami, which hit the region during this time.
Sr. Jane then returned to the United States, and from 1979 until 2011, she found her ministry on the West Coast of the United States, primarily in Oakland, Calif. She was executive producer of the award-winning program, “Video Edition,” a weekly television news magazine of the Oakland diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Voice. For Casa Vicentia, a home in Oakland for single pregnant women in crisis, Sr. Jane served as a social worker, counselor, newsletter editor and assistant director. She also was on the administrative staff of Sophia Institute, a graduate program in Culture and Spirituality at Holy Names University.
After her retirement in 2011, Sr. Jane stayed in California until her declining health brought her back to the Maryknoll Center in Ossining in 2022, where she passed away.
A wake for Sr. Jane Heckathorn was held on Nov. 17, 2025, in the Annunciation Chapel on the grounds of Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of the Resurrection was said on Nov. 18, 2025, also in the Annunciation Chapel.