Maryknoll, NY: Sister Jean Pruitt died suddenly on September 10, 2017 while on mission in Tanzania. She was 77 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 58 years.

Jean was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 17, 1939 to Beatrice (Johnston) Pruitt and Dorcie Pruitt. She had two brothers: Harry and Joseph and four sisters: Mary, Margaret, Beatrice, and Donna. She is survived by: Harry, Joseph, Mary, and Margaret. Her parents and two of her sisters Beatrice and Donna have predeceased her.

In 1957, Jean graduated from Bishop Conaty High School in Los Angeles, California. She then entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in Valley Park, Missouri on December 30, 1958 from Santa Ana, Ascension Parish in Los Angeles, California. From 1959-1967, she attended Mary Rogers College in Maryknoll, New York where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. While attending Mary Rogers College, she made her First Profession of Vows on August 22, 1961 at the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Valley Park, Missouri. From 1967-1969, she attended the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. While attending Buffalo University, she made her Final Profession of Vows on August 22, 1967 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York.

For the past 49 years, Sister Jean has devoted her life to her mission in Tanzania working on several projects and ministries, with a main focus on art ministry and the well being of impoverished youth. In 1968, Sister Jean received her first overseas assignment to Africa, where she studied Kiswahili for one year in Makoko and worked as the Liaison Officer for Catholic Relief Services nutrition program in Dar Es Salaam. From 1972-1993, Sister Jean worked at Nyumba ya Sanaa-Craftsperson Coop, where she was an advocate for fair tax laws for craftpersons. This program began with three people and ended up employing more than 150 youth artisans and artists. In addition to working at the Craftsperson Coop, Sister Jean worked in the first paper mill in Sub Saharan Africa (Nyumba ya Sanaa-Handmade Paper Mill), where she was an advocate for youth involvement in this small scale industry from 1979-1983.

In 1981, Sister Jean and several youth artists pooled their resources together and opened a small artist’s shop called Nyumba Ya Sanaa (House of Art) Center. Sister Jean designed and supervised the entire construction of the center; it has held more than 15 exhibitions of artists in eight different countries. In 1983, Sister Jean received a national award from the President of Tanzania for her contribution to the development of small-scale industry in Tanzania. At that time, she became one of the founding members of Amnesty International of Tanzania. From 1988-1992, while working at the House of Art Center, Sister Jean directed human resource activities for TAMOFA (Tanzania Mozambique Friendship Association) in Southern Tanzania for 100,000 Mozambique refugees. She also initiated the Friendship Ferry Project between Mozambique and Tanzania and advocated for Mozambique refugees with the Ministry of Home Affairs in Tanzania.

Since arriving in Tanzania, Sister Jean has always worked hard for children rights advocacy. She passionately believed that poverty reduction begins with children, especially the most excluded and invisible who are children living on the streets. From 1992-2017, Sister Jean has been working on her Nyumba ya Sanaa’s Street Children Project-Dogodogo Center. Sister Jean founded the center with her vision to give homeless kids a chance at something more than what they see on dirt roads and pavement. The center serves to raise funds for services to street children and offers medical care, counseling, family reunification services, and classes in basic skills. It also offers vocational training in the arts including: arts and crafts, painting, clay, wood, and metal sculpture.

Since 2001, Sister Jean had been working on a Global Network of Religions for Children in Africa (GNRC). This peace building project is part of a global network that is sponsored by the Arigatou Foundation in Japan. It runs a vibrant peace building program addressing the issues of children and their right to peace.

Sister Jean was called home to God on September 10, 2017, up until her last breath she remained very active on her mission in Tanzania with impoverished youth.

Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday September 20th in Tanzania. Memorial services will begin at 10:30am at Karimje Hall, organized be the Ministry of Culture, Art and Sports; the cremation will follow.

Memorial Video-Sister Jean Pruitt from Maryknoll Sisters on Vimeo.

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Anita M. Smith died on September 4, 2017 at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. She was 92 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for almost 70 years.

Anita was born in Hartford, Connecticut on May 28, 1925 to Anna (Relihan) Smith and John J. Smith. She had one brother, also John J. and five sisters: Frances, Jean, Rosemary, all of whom have predeceased her, and her remaining sisters, Mary and Kathryn.

In 1943, Anita graduated from Vincentian Institute, in Albany, New York. She then attended St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford, Connecticut from 1943 –1947, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business/Economics. Then she entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in Maryknoll, New York from St. Augustine Parish in Hartford, Connecticut.

She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1950 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York. That same year, she was assigned to Waialua, Hawaii where she taught 5^th and 6^th grade. While on mission in Hawaii, she made her Final Profession of Vows on March 7, 1953.

In 1959, Sister Anita was assigned to Punahou, Hawaii to teach 8^th grade in the Maryknoll Grade School. She returned to the Connecticut in 1971 to study at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and earned a Masters degree in Education Administration. She then returned to Honolulu, Hawaii after graduation to serve as Principal of Maryknoll Grade School until 1980. In 1981, Sister Anita returned to West Hartford, Connecticut to study at St. Joseph College, where she earned a second Masters degree in Pastoral Ministry.

From 1982 –1983, she did field work in a poor sections of Hartford, Connecticut and in New York City; she also taught Confirmation classes in her local parish. In 1984, Sister Anita returned to Hawaii to do Pastoral work in Kona at the Immaculate Conception Parish. In 1990, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she worked in the Congregation’s Office of Congregational and Lay Personnel Employees until 1993. From 1993 – 1997, she joined a community of semi-retired Maryknoll Sisters in Waterbury, Connecticut where they did volunteer work. In 1998, she transferred to the Congregation’s Eastern U.S Region and moved to Marlborough, Connecticut to serve in Family Ministry until 2006 and Family Childcare in Wethersfield, Connecticut until December, 2007. She then worked as school librarian at Covenant Preparatory Academy in Hartford, Connecticut from 2008-2014. 

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Anita on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. 

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Friday, September 8, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center followed by interment at the Sisters cemetery.

Sister Cecilia Wood Maryknoll Sister for 77 Years Dies

Maryknoll, NY: Maryknoll Sister, Sr. Cecilia Wood M.M., died on August 17, 2017 at Our Lady of Victory Training Center, Davao City, Philippines.  She was 95 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 77 years.

Cecilia was born in Seattle, Washington on September 17, 1921 to Catherine (Kelly) Wood and Stephen J. Wood.  She had four brothers, Francis, John, James, and Stephen.   Her parents and brothers Francis and John have predeceased her.

Cecilia graduated from Holy Names Academy, Seattle, WA in 1939. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation from St. John’s Parish, Seattle, (now St. Joseph’s), in the Diocese of Seattle, on December 7, 1939 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY.  She made her First Profession of Vows on June 30, 1942 and her Final Profession of Vows on June 30, 1945, both at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

From 1941 to 1945, she studied at Maryknoll Teachers College in Maryknoll, NY and earned a Bachelor of Education Degree; she was then assigned that same year to Kalihi, Hawaii.  In 1946 she was assigned to the Philippines where she taught at various Maryknoll elementary and high schools until 1962.  She returned to the United States and attended St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO earning her Masters in Science Research Degree and a Ph.D. in Biology-Cancer Research in 1968. Sister Cecilia was then assigned to teach at Mary Rogers College, in Maryknoll, NY from 1968 to 1971 and then taught at Columbia University School of Medicine in NYC from 1970 to 1972. That same year she continued her medical studies at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and obtained her M.D. in 1974. Sister Cecilia then did a medical internship from 1974 – 1975 at Grasslands Hospital, (now Westchester Medical Center) in Valhalla, NY.  The University of the State of New York issued her License to practice medicine.  Sister Cecilia completed her Residency in Internal Medicine at the Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens, NY from 1975 – 1977.

Sister Cecilia returned to the Philippines in 1977 where she served on the faculty of the Davao Medical School from 1978 – 1983, while at the same time serving in Muslim villages and in local clinics of Davao City and environs with particular attention to disabled youth in a paraplegic center. In 1983, Our Lady of Victory Training Center was founded in Davao City and Sister Cecilia served as Director and Practicing Physician from 1989 to 2010; during that time she also supported and guided ten college students from Myanmar. Sister Cecilia retired in the Philippines in 2011 where she remained until her death.

A Memorial Mass will be held in the Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY on Friday, August 25, 2017 at 11:00AM 

Sister Cecilia will be buried in the Philippines in the Maryknoll Sisters Mausoleum on the Miriam College Campus.

Sister_Cecilia_Wood-Memorial_Video_1080p from Maryknoll Sisters on Vimeo.

Sister Timothy Marie Healy, Maryknoll Sister for 77 Years Dies

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Timothy Marie Healy died on August 4, 2017 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.  She was 97 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 77 years.

Timothy was born in Hoboken, NJ on May 2, 1920 to Ellen (Weber) Healy and Martin J. Healy.  She had one sister, Virginia.  Both parents died before she was six years old and her sister predeceased her in 2006.

Timothy graduated from Mount Saint Dominic Academy in Caldwell, NJ in 1939.  She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on December 8, 1939 from St. Jerome’s Parish in West Long Branch, NJ in the diocese of Trenton.  At her Reception she received the religious name, Sister Timothy Marie. She made her First Profession of Vows on June 30, 1942 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Vows on June 30, 1945 also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

From 1942 to 1956, Sister Timothy Marie worked within the United States in various positions at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and the Maryknoll Society’s Seminary.  She studied at Maryknoll Teachers College from 1956 to 1960 where she received a Bachelor of Education Degree.   In 1960 she was assigned to Hawaii.  There for the next 26 years she served as an elementary school teacher at Sacred Heart School in Honolulu’s Punahou district.  In 1986 she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center and was assigned as the center’s Mailroom Supervisor from 1988 until her retirement in 2006.  She continued to do volunteer work among her Sisters right up until the time of her death. Sister Timothy Marie has willed her body to medical science.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Timothy Marie on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.  

A Memorial Mass will be on Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center.

Sister Jane Zawadzki Maryknoll Sister for 66 Years Dies

Maryknoll, NY: Maryknoll Sister, Jane Zawadzki M.M., died on August 3, 2017 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. She was 88 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 66 years.

Jane was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 20, 1929 to Angela Wioncek and John Zawadzki. She had three brothers: Matthew, John and Joseph and four sisters: Agnes, Stella, Natalie and Carolyn.   Her parents, brothers John and Matthew and sisters Agnes and Natalie have predeceased her.

Jane graduated from Girls’ High School in Brooklyn in 1947, after graduation she worked at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as a clerk for three years.  On September 6, 1950 she entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation from Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Brooklyn. She made her First Profession of Vows was on March 7, 1953 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Profession of Vows on March 7, 1959 while on mission in Siuna, Nicaragua.

Sister Jane attended Maryknoll Teachers College and earned a Bachelor of Education in 1956; that same year she received her overseas assignment to Central America to teach. She studied the Spanish language at Siuna, Nicaragua and taught primary grades at the Siuna Mission School, from 1957 to 1961. In 1965 she was assigned to Colegio San Vicente, in Ancon, Panama until 1973.  Then moved to St. Mary’s Mission in Ancon, teaching in grades 1 to 5 and in the CCD Programs.

In 1984 she was awarded The Master Key to the Locks of the Panama Canal in recognition of her service.  She then returned to the U.S. to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to do Congregational Service in the Treasury Department for three years.  In 1987 Sister Jane returned to Las Mañanitas in Panama, a fast growing area at the southeastern end of Panama City. There she served in parish ministry, helped form bible study groups and basic Christian communities, worked with dedicated lay women and men, overseeing liturgy, catechetical program, sacramental preparation and a youth group, visiting the sick.

In 2015, Sister Jane returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center and volunteered her services in the Maryknoll Sisters Home Care Unit with elderly Sisters, until she herself became a patient of the unit shortly before her death.

Sister Jane willed her body to medical science.

A Vespers service will be held in the Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY on Thursday, August 10, 2017 at 4:15PM.

A Memorial Mass will be held in the Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY on Friday, August 11, 2017 at 11:00AM

She was born in Northbridge, MA on May 6, 1926 to Sophie (Pote) and Paul Vallee. Both parents have predeceased her; she is survived by two sisters: Sr. M. Cecilia SP (Evelyn) and Mrs. Anne Williams.

Vivian graduated from Northbridge High School in Whitinsville, MA in 1944 and then studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI from 1944-1945. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on October 5, 1946 from St. Patrick’s Parish in Whitinsville, MA the Diocese of Worcester. At her Reception of the habit she received the religious name Sister Rose Marita. She made her First Profession of Vows on April 6, 1949 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and was assigned to Kyoto, Japan in 1950, where she made her Final Vows on April 6, 1952. From 1960-1964 she attended Maryknoll Teachers Training College in Maryknoll, NY where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education Degree. She also studied Japanese at Columbia University during the summer of 1964 before returning to Japan.

During her years of service in Japan, from 1964 to 1970, Sr. Vivian taught English conversation, did pastoral work and worked in the Sisters vestment making department. She returned to Maryknoll, NY in 1971 for renewal and Congregational Service in the Graphic Arts Department, Housekeeping and the Education Department Library until 1984 after which she was assigned to Bangladesh in South Asia. There she worked in a Christian Pastoral Center and in training of parish lay catechists until 1989. From Bangladesh she first returned to Monrovia, CA and later to Waterbury, CT doing volunteer work until 1999. In 2000, Sr. Vivian returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center and continued to do volunteer work until 2013 when she retired.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Vivian on Monday, January 30 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. A funeral Mass will follow on Tuesday, January 31 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.