Obituaries

From the first member of the congregation to pass away in 1870 to recent deaths, all the obituaries of deceased Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul are accessible and searchable. You can search by name, or use the birth date, death date and location filters.

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 The necrologies are historical documents and may contain errors, including variations in spellings and incorrect dates.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.

Sister Mary Viola Cobey

Sister Mary Viola Cobey

          “I think the primary aim of our Institute, according to our founder, is works of charity - not so in much giving money, as in giving  ourselves.” Sister Mary Viola Cobey not only wrote these words, she lived by them. Perhaps the most striking example of her...

Sister Patricia Rashotte

Sister Patricia Rashotte

“Eternal Beginning, Creative Spirit,Recreate me!You Who have begun me,Complete me.” In the later years of her life, Sister Patricia Rashotte used this intense prayer to plead for God’s help in finishing the work of her sanctification. The invitation to full union with...

Sister Rose Marie Scanlan

Sister Rose Marie Scanlan

Rose Marie Catherine Scanlan was born on January 13, 1929, in Belleville and was baptized just one week later at St. Michael’s Church. She was the only daughter of Terence V. Scanlan and Rose Alice Fahey and obviously her father’s favourite. Her brothers recall that...

Sister Mary Carmel Teresa Desjardins

Sister Mary Carmel Teresa Desjardins

On the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1921, Kathleen Cecilia Desjardins entered the Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence. She was only sixteen years of age. About two weeks later she was asked by a relative of another sixteen year old to “look after” the...

Sister Mary Francis Assisi Dillon

Sister Mary Francis Assisi Dillon

When Sister Mary Francis of Assisi retired after forty-nine years of teaching, William Davis, then Minister of Education and later Premier of Ontario, wrote to her: “It must be a source of great satisfaction to you to realize the Christian initiative and knowledge you...

Sister Regina Parlan

Sister Regina Parlan

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...

Sister Mary Coletta Quinn

Sister Mary Coletta Quinn

“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...

Sister Mary Boniface Lansing

Sister Mary Boniface Lansing

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...

Sister Margaret Meraw

Sister Margaret Meraw

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...

Sister Mary Roberta Connolly

Sister Mary Roberta Connolly

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...

Sister Alice Vincent

Sister Alice Vincent

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...

Sister Mary Irma Seguin

Sister Mary Irma Seguin

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...

Sister Mary Jean Walker

Sister Mary Jean Walker

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...

Sister Emily McDonald

Sister Emily McDonald

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...

Sister Mary Stella Maris Black

Sister Mary Stella Maris Black

"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?...

Sister Andrea Nolan

Sister Andrea Nolan

“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...

Sister Norah Forestell

Sister Norah Forestell

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...

Sister Mary Electa Murphy

Sister Mary Electa Murphy

“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...

Sister Mary Clarissa Whalen

Sister Mary Clarissa Whalen

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...

Sister Mary Aileen Malyea

Sister Mary Aileen Malyea

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...