Ossining, N.Y., Dec. 12, 2025 ── Sister Ramona Oppenheim, M.M., known as a loyal and fun-loving member of the Maryknoll Sisters for 71 years, died on December 3, 2025. She was 96

Sr. Ramona was born in Lima, Ohio, to Theodore Henry Oppenheim and Anna Elizabeth Mathias on April 28, 1929. She was raised in Coldwater, Ohio, with three sisters and four brothers, all of whom pre-deceased her. Sr. Ramona is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws.

Sr. Ramona was baptized at the Holy Trinity Parish, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. She graduated from Coldwater Public School in 1946 and began her college career at St. Mary’s College in Indiana, where she developed a passion for history and social sciences. She would complete her B.A. in history in 1950. She also received a B.S. in education from Mary Rogers College and went on to earn an M.A. in history from the Ateneo de Manila University while serving in the Philippines. 

Inspired by the Maryknoll Field Afar magazine, Sr. Ramona entered Maryknoll at Valley Park Novitiate in 1951. She received the name Sister Ramona Therese and took her first vows in 1954. 

In 1955, Sr. Ramona began her first mission in the Philippines, where she worked in education in Quezon City and Lucena City for a decade. In 1965, she began teaching at Maryknoll High School on the Maryknoll College Campus, while serving as a local superior. Sr. Ramona returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y., in 1972, where she worked in the admissions office until 1975. 

From 1976 until 2004, Sr. Ramona served in the Mexico-Guatemala region, continuing her work in education with the addition of time back at the Center from 1985 to 1988. During this time, she was a member of the Mission Institute Coordinating Team and assisted the Center’s Physical Plant on the Blueprint Project. Sr. Ramona’s next mission took her to San Ysidro, Calif., in 2005. There, she worked in collaboration with the Maryknoll Society, Maryknoll Lay Missioners and the Tacoma Dominican Sisters to serve in immigration detention centers and clinics.

In 2010, Sr. Ramona became ill and returned to the Center in New York, where she remained until her passing.

A wake for Sr. Ramona was held on Dec. 9, 2025, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Resurrection was said on Dec. 10, 2025, also in the Annunciation Chapel.