Ossining, N.Y., June 30, 2026 ── Sister Rosemary Kane, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 80 years known for her sense of humor and generosity, died on June 18, 2026. She was 99.

Sr. Rosemary was born on June 15, 1927, to Katharine M. (Feurer) and Francis W. Kane, in New York City, N.Y. She is predeceased by two brothers — Francis Thomas Kane and Maryknoll Father Joseph R. Kane, M.M. — and one sister, Loretta Tum Suden.

In 1945, Sr. Rosemary graduated from St. Agnes High School in Rockville Center, Long Island, before dancing as a Rockette at the Radio City Music Hall. Sr. Rosemary then entered Maryknoll from the St. Agnes Cathedral Parish at Rockville Center on October 5, 1946. She professed her first vows in 1949, and final vows on April 6, 1952.

Sr. Rosemary’s first mission brought her to Maui, Hawaii, where she taught primary school students for one year. She then taught primary and secondary school students on the Island of Oahu for the next nine years, before returning to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y., to work in Mission Promotion in 1959. During this time, Sr. Rosemary studied at Maryknoll Teachers College and completed a Bachelor of Science in education in 1963.

She then served at St. Anthony of Padua Primary School in the South Bronx, N.Y., as principal, sixth-grade teacher and house superior. Sr. Rosemary also attended leadership classes at Hunter College and Fordham University and studied Spanish at the Maryknoll Language Institute in Cochabamba.

In 1967, Sr. Rosemary’s began her next mission in Riberalta, Bolivia, conducting home visits in villages along the Beni River and preparing their people for Mass and sacraments. She and a Maryknoll priest co-founded Radio San Miguel in 1968, which served as the main source of communication, education and entertainment for the people of Riberalta. The station offered literacy programs and helped emphasize the needs of communities who had been geographically isolated by the jungle and rivers, through its programs on health, religion and recordings of community meetings.

After studying telecommunications at Indiana University’s Communication Department for two years, Sr. Rosemary returned to Bolivia in1979 to work with Radio San Rafael in Cochabamba, offering her expertise through 2013. She also served as the full-time communications manager of the Catholic archdiocesan radio station for 18 years, until 2002.

Sr. Rosemary then pursued other ministries, serving on the Board of Directors of the Archdiocesan Institute of the Blind from 2007 until 2008, and collaborating with the Santa Ana Parish Secondary School (formerly Maryknoll High School) religious formation team from 2008 until 2015. During that time, she also provided private English classes to students and directed the students’ year-end English Festival plays.

Sr. Rosemary returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 2016, where she remained until her passing. The Maryknoll Sisters would like to thank Sr. Rosemary for her sense of humor and desire to reach out to others in her years of dedicated service to our One Earth Community.

A wake for Sr. Rosemary was held on June 25, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Resurrection was said for Sr. Rosemary on June 26, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.