Maryknoll, NY Sister Eleanor Keeney died on Nov. 29, 2013, at Phelps Memorial Hospital, Sleepy Hollow, NY after a fall at Maryknoll, NY. She was 90 years old and celebrated 65 years as a Maryknoll Sister on September 4 of this year.

Eleanor Keeney was born on March 16, 1923, in West Hoboken, NJ to Mary (Dimmick) Keeney and John Keeney. Her parents, a sister, Lorraine and stepfather Stanley Richter have predeceased her. Eleanor graduated from St. Brendan’s H.S.in 1941 and Jersey City Med. Center-Nursing School with an R.N in 1945. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation from St. Agatha’s Parish in Brooklyn, NY on September 4, 1948 at the Venard, PA. At her Reception, she received the religious name Sister Regina Michael.

She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1951, at the Maryknoll Sisters Motherhouse, Ossining, NY, and was assigned to Kandy Government Hospital in Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka), where she served as nurse and Assistant Director of Nurses until 1959. She made her Final Profession of Vows on March 7, 1954. In 1959, Sister Eleanor moved to Kundasale, Ceylon, to the Maternity Hospital and parish work. In 1962, the government expelled all foreigners and she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she served in the Infirmary until 1967 when she was assigned to Northeast Thailand where she operated a mobile medical clinic until 1969. It was then that she was called back to be the Director of Nurses and Health Coordinator at Bethany House, which was the Maryknoll Sisters nursing facility in Ossining, NY, at that time.

From 1970 to 1972 Sister Eleanor studied at Maryknoll Rogers College and then from 1972–1974 at the University of Connecticut where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. From 1974 -1980 she was a Public Health Nurse with the Visiting Nurse Service of Westchester County, NY, and in 1981 she was assigned to work as Coordinator of Health Services in Monrovia, CA. for two years.

In 1983, Sister Eleanor was assigned to Zimbabwe as Director of Nurses and Administrator at St. Albert’s Mission Hospital. In 1987, she moved to Gweru, Zimbabwe, to care for the terminally ill in Pastoral Home Nursing and Hospice work and as a volunteer for Red Cross nurses.

From 1997 to 2007, Sister Eleanor volunteered her services in Hendersonville, NC, at the Pardee Health Care Center and served on the Council for the Aging while also visiting the needy and aged. In 2009, Sister Eleanor returned to Maryknoll, NY.

A Vespers Service was held on Monday, December 9, 2013, at 4:15 P.M. The Mass of Christian Burial followed on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, at 11:00 A.M., both in the Chapel of the Annunciation in the Maryknoll Sisters Center

Burial will be in the Maryknoll Sisters’ Cemetery. Dorsey Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Maryknoll, NY Sister Mary Elizabeth Driscoll died peacefully on October 2, 2013, at Phelps Memorial Hospital, Sleepy Hollow, NY. She was 90 years old and celebrated 70 years as a Maryknoll Sister on September 7 of this year.

Mary Driscoll was born on July 26, 1923, in Portland OR, to Elcena Greene Driscoll and William E. Driscoll. Her parents, a brother (William) and two sisters (Anne and Susan) have predeceased her. She is survived by one sister, Mrs. William Neely (Carolyn) of Boise, ID.

Mary attended St. Mary’s Academy, Portland, OR, graduating in 1941, and Maryhurst College in Oregon during 1942.She entered Maryknoll on Sept 7, 1943, from All Saints Parish, Portland, OR. At her Reception, she received the religious name of Sister M. Edmund Damien.

She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1946, at the Maryknoll Sisters Motherhouse, Ossining, NY, and her Final Vows on March 7, 1949, in Hawaii.  She graduated from Maryknoll Teachers College, NY, with a Bachelor of Education degree in 1955. In 1964 she received an M.A.  in Theology at Providence College, RI. From 1969– 1979 she attended the Univ. of Pacific Coast, CA, during which time she became certified to teach EMR students and Learning Disabled children. She received the Outstanding Teacher Award for “exemplary teaching and dedication to school and community.”

In 1946, Sister Mary was assigned to Hawaii where she taught in grade schools in Maui-Wailuku and Punahou. In 1955 she went to Chinatown, NYC, where she served as Assistant Principal and teacher until 1958 when she was assigned to the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at Maryknoll, NY, as an Assistant Novice Mistress. In 1964 she was re-assigned as Novice Mistress to the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Topsfield, MA, until 1968. From Topsfield, she moved to the U.S. Western Region where she served on their Regional Governing Board and as Region Coordinator and taught upper elementary Learning Disabled Children in public schools until 1981. In 1982, Sister Mary was assigned to the U.S. Eastern Region in Bardstown, KY where she did social work in the Sisters Visitor Program of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, working with poor families and the elderly for eight years. From 1989 – 1997 she taught students with low esteem and school “dropouts” at the Creative Ed. Center. After that she volunteered in Bardstown Parish as a Pastoral visitor. In 2010, she moved to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY and went for 10 months as a volunteer tutor in the nearby Brookside Elementary School.

From 2010 to 2013 she retired to the Sisters’ residence in Monrovia, CA before returning to the Maryknoll Sisters Center at Maryknoll, NY, on August 1, 2013. Sister Mary was admitted to Phelps Memorial Hospital on Sept. 30 for emergency surgery, where she died at 7:30 P.M. on October 2, 2013.

A Vespers Service will be held on Monday, Oct. 7, 2013, at 6:30 P.M.in the main chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Ossining, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday Oct. 8, at 11:00 A.M., also in the main chapel.

Burial will be in the Maryknoll Sisters’ Cemetery. Dorsey Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.