Ossining, N.Y., August 24, 2026 ── Sister Kathleen Magee, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 62 years remembered for her gentle spirit as an educator and counselor, died on Aug. 3, 2026. She was 81.
Sr. Kathleen was born on Jan. 8, 1945, in Boston, Mass. She is survived by her brother, Robert, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
In 1969, Sr. Kathleen received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mary Rogers College. She would go on to complete the New York State Nurse Assistant Certification Course in 1990 from the BOCES Tech Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. She received a Master of Arts in marriage and family therapy from the University of Saint Joseph (formerly Saint Joseph College) in West Hartford, Conn., in 1996. Sr. Kathleen also attended Master Therapist Series courses at the University of Connecticut in Farmington, Conn., from 1993 until 1996.
On Sept. 2, 1963, Sr. Kathleen entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in Ossining, N.Y., and made her First Vows on June 24, 1966. She made her Final Vows on Sept. 6, 1975, in Tanzania.
Sr. Kathleen’s first mission assignment brought her to Tanzania, where she would serve from 1969 until 1981, teaching at a secondary school and the local seminary. From 1981 until 1982, she lived in contemplative communities in Maua, Tanzania, and Maryknoll, N.Y.
From 1983 to 1989, Sr. Kathleen began working as a contributor to the Congregational Leadership and Administration at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. There, she played an instrumental role in the revision and updating of the congregation’s constitution and policies. She then worked at the Maryknoll Sisters Nursing Home from 1989 until 1992, as a nursing assistant and physical therapy specialist, while also providing pastoral counseling. She later served the Eastern U.S. Region of the Maryknoll Sisters as a bookkeeper, finance coordinator, archivist and historian.
Over the next decade, Sr. Kathleen taught social work and family therapy courses and mentored graduate assistants at the University of Saint Joseph, and served as clinical coordinator at the Children’s Home of Cromwell in Cromwell, Conn. There, she provided care to abused, neglected and delinquent youth through residential treatment. Sr. Kathleen remained committed to the youth through the later years of her life, teaching and mentoring students remotely until her return to the Center in 2025.
The Maryknoll Sisters would like to thank Sr. Kathleen for her many years of faithful service to our One Earth Community, enriching countless lives through wisdom, compassion and love.
A wake and Mass of Resurrection were held for Sr. Kathleen on Aug. 12, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y.