Ossining, N.Y., Sept. 30, 2025 – Sister Rose Lauren Earl, M.M., a Maryknoll sister known for her lovely, gentle personality, died on Sept. 16, 2025, surrounded by Maryknoll sisters and aides. She was 96.

Sister Rose Lauren Earl was born Wilma Joan Earl on November 8, 1928, to Frank and Wilhelmina (Minnie) Earl in New Albany, Indiana. Her brother, Joseph, and her sister, Mary, have pre-deceased her.

After graduating New Albany High School in 1947, Sr. Rose Lauren studied accounting before entering Maryknoll Sisters on September 6, 1950, at Maryknoll, N.Y., where she made her first vows on March 7, 1953, receiving the name Rose Lauren. She made final vows there on March 7, 1959. A year later, she received her bachelor’s degree in education in June 1960.

It was at this time that Sr. Rose Lauren began her lifelong engagement in the Pacific Islands, from Hawaii to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Here she taught, served as school principal and set up a teacher-training program with lecturers from the University of Hawaii, which had tremendous, far-reaching effects on education throughout the islands.

In 1978, she became involved with Natural Family Planning efforts, a ministry that would remain central to the rest of her life and work in Hawaii, as well as serving in various capacities in her original study area of accounting for the next 30 years. In 2008, Sr. Rose Lauren returned to the center to work in the Treasury Department, where she created a sense of teamwork and peace that spread joy throughout the department. After retiring, she spent time visiting with ill and elderly sisters, bringing joy to all of them.

A wake for Sr. Rose Lauren Earl was held on Sept. 22 in the Annunciation Chapel on the grounds of Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of the Resurrection was held on Sept. 23 also in the Annunciation Chapel.