These are not typical obituaries, in fact in the world of consecrated life we refer to them as necrologies. These biographical sketches are written by the General Secretary of the congregation shortly after the death of each individual sister. The necrologies are historical documents and may contain errors, including variations in spellings and incorrect dates. The necrologies are presented here as they were written.
If you would like more information about a deceased sister please contact the archivist.
Newry is a good-sized city about 150 miles from Belfast in Northern Ireland. There, in 1887, Rose McParland was born. In the great wave of immigration that took place in the early 1900’s, she came to Canada to live with her uncle. Within a few years, she met and...
“If we desire to obtain anything from God let us ask His Spirit; because this Divine Spirit is the life of our souls.” St. Vincent No matter what request for prayers was presented to Sister Mary Coletta (Quinn) and no matter what problem she was facing, her approach...
John B. Lansing and his wife, Rose Isabell Merrick, were both born in Burlington, Wisconsin, just north of Chicago. For a while they farmed in Minnesota and then, in the fall of 1902 came as homesteaders to the area around Spring Lake, Alberta, which is eight miles...
Among the notebooks kept by Sister Margaret Meraw there are many which are chock-full of recipes. As well as numerous recipes for main dishes and desserts, such as you would expect to find in the repertoire of an excellent cook, there are also some rather unusual...
For years “Readers’ Digest” magazine ran a series of articles entitled, “The Most Unforgettable Character I’ve Met”. The only reason why Sister M. Roberta was never the subject of one of these descriptions was that she kept us all too busy to have time to submit a...
Henry Vincent was a convert. He had been raised as an Anglican, but when he married Agnes Ann Cotter, he was happy to become a Catholic for her. The faith had been in his family on his mother’s side and she had returned to it on her death bed. Henry first worked as a...
Alfred Seguin and Margaret McPhail were both born in St. Andrews. When they married and settled on a farm, it was in that same Eastern Ontario area, and there they raised thirteen children. Two of these children entered religious life. The eldest girl, Elizabeth, was...
In more ways than one, Sister Mary Jean was somewhat of an enigma. Though small in stature and unimposing in manner, she was mighty in deeds. Though she lived all her religious life in the city of Kinston, she was trusted with the care of her Sisters in centres all...
In recent years the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul who have died have nearly all been more than 80 years of age. Many, indeed, have lived on into their 90’s. So, we will remember 1985 as the year when, one after the other, we lost four comparatively...
"On Dying I am standing on the sea shore. A ship spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean. She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her till at last she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, “She is gone.” Gone where?...
“Compassion is a profound sharing in God’s merciful and tender love for everyone He has created.” Mercy is bestowed with gentleness; tender love is given with a smile. We remember Sr. Andrea Nolan as having the compassion she described in this quotation. It is taken...
Hanorah (Norah) Margaret Forestell was the third of the six children born to Arnold Forestell and Clara McGillen. She came into this world on July 6, 1921, at Marmora, about twenty miles north of Trenton. Her family never moved far from that southern Ontario area...
“Happy the one who has heard the call of Jesus to a life of identification. Amid all turmoil you have found the lasting peace of a True Spouse of Jesus. Increasingly make void the self within yourself; petition Jesus to plunge Himself so deeply in you that now and...
Sarah Margaret Whalen, affectionately called “Sadie”, was born June 10, 1905, in Hungerford Township, Hastings County. She was the fourth youngest of the fourteen children born to William Whalen and Sarah McGrath. The farm home of the Whalen family was a modest one...
The “City by the Bay” is the hometown of many Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. The illustrious place at the head of the list of these Sisters from Belleville, Ontario, belongs to Sister Mary Aileen, Malyea. True, two others had entered from this city...
William John Sainsbury-Woods, a Hampshire man, and Elizabeth Barnes, a Dorset girl, met in college in Winchester England. After their graduation they decided to pool their educational resources and start teaching school, he as principal or master, and she as assistant...
During the summer of 1917 the Reverend John S. Quinn, pastor of St. Carthagh’s Tweed, together with his parishioners, prepared the former Queen’s Hotel which they had purchased to be a convent home for the Sisters of Providence. One of the first tasks the Sisters took...
On February 17, 1909, in St. Peter’s Church, Parry Sound, Ontario, Joseph Emedie Cote took Ellen (Nellie) Mary Foley to be his wife. Of this most loving union, in the space of five years, three children were born. The first offspring, Marie, was to be her father’s...
On January 13, 1902, to Lambeth West, England, Eileen King was born - the second child of Herbert King and Julia Nano Weldon. Her brother, Gerald was the first born, and after Eileen, in quick succession, there followed three more sisters and three brothers. The...
“Have you a place in your Community for a girl like me?” with this question Hilda McAndrews began her letter of inquiry addressed to the “Reverend Sister of Novices” at Heathfield. We did, indeed, have a place for her! In fact, she fitted in very well, having in good...
