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 The necrologies are historical documents and may contain errors, including variations in spellings and incorrect dates.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

Sister Mary Dominica Johnson

Sister Mary Dominica (Catherine Johnson) was born at Dingle, County Kerry, Eire, on March 31, 1887; her parents were James Johnson and Mary Aherne. She was baptized in the parish church at Ferriter, Diocese of Kerry. When quite a young woman she came to Holyoke,...

Sister Mary Adrian O’Rourke

Sister Mary Adrian O’Rourke

Sister Mary Adrian, Anna Winnifred O’Rourke, was born at Curran, Prescott County, Ontario, on January 20, 1890, the only daughter in the family of Martin O’Rourke and Winnifred Fisher. She was baptized five days later in the parish church of St. Luke. On January 10,...

Sister Mary Rita Farrelly

Sister Mary Rita Farrelly

Sister Mary Rita, daughter of Bernard Farrelly and Elizabeth Walker Farrelly, was born at Kingston Mills on April 7, 1889 and baptized at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kingston on May 12, 1889. After elementary and junior High School she took a business course and on March 1,...

Sister Anna Marie Laffan

Sister Anna Marie Laffan

Anna Marie Laffan, daughter of Thomas Laffan and Mary Golden was born in the parish of Greensboro, Kingston diocese, on July 11, 1895. On August 15, 1914, at the age of nineteen she entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Providence, but homesickness for her parents...

Sister Mary Cecile Koster

Sister Mary Cecile Koster

Sister Mary Cecile, the former Kathleen Cecilia Koster, was born in Toronto on November 12, 1893, daughter of Matthew Koster and Catherine McDonnell. She was educated at Sr. Patrick’s School and St. Joseph’s Convent. Although Cecilia (or Cecile as she was called) felt...

Sister Mary Blanche Corrigan

Sister Mary Blanche Corrigan

Mary Alice Corrigan was born at St. Foy, Quebec on July 28, 1889, one of eight children of Thomas Corrigan and Helen McCartney, and was baptized three days later in the parish church of St. Foy. As a young woman she graduated from the Nurses’ Training School of the...

Sister Mary of Lourdes Poulin

Sister Mary of Lourdes Poulin

Eva Poulin was born in Toledo, Ontario, on January 21, 1886, the daughter of William Poulin and Winnifred Jane Corcoran. She was baptized by Reverend Michael Spratt, later Archbishop of Kingston. When she was six years old her family moved to Smiths Falls where her...

Sister Mary Zita Welsh

Sister Mary Zita Welsh

Sister Mary Zita has the distinction of having reached the most advanced age of any member of the Sisters of Providence, Kingston, since its foundation in 1861. When she died on December 28, 1971 she was 97 years and 5 months. When the Community was only thirty-seven...

Sister Mary Ignatius Masterson

Sister Mary Ignatius Masterson

Anna Genevieve Masterson was born in Cantin, New York, on July 27, 1893, daughter of James Masterson and Eileen Foley, natives of Chesterville, Ontario. When Anna was a year old her parents returned to their native village and she grew up and received her early...

Sister Mary Geraldine Egan

Sister Mary Geraldine Egan

On September 7, 1971, death claimed one of our veteran members, Sister Mary Geraldine, in the 88th year of her age and the 68th of her religious life. Margaret Anne Egan was born November 8, 1883, in the village of Westport and baptized five days later in the parish...

Sister Mary Bibiana Keilty

Sister Mary Bibiana Keilty

The Sisters of Providence and especially those of Providence Manor, Kingston, were shocked and grief-stricken in mid-June 1971 when a doctor’s verdict informed them that Sister Bibiana was suffering from terminal cancer and her life expectancy was not beyond six...

Sister Mary Carmella Boyle

Sister Mary Carmella Boyle

James Boyle and Elizabeth Powers established in Belleville, Ontario a truly Catholic home which was pleased with four sons and six daughters. From such home the Church looks for vocations in religious life, and in this one she was not disappointed. The eldest daughter...

Sister Mary Mechtilde Doyle

Sister Mary Mechtilde Doyle

On January 11, 1971 the Community lost an old and venerable member when Sister Mary Mechtilde died at Hotel Dieu Hospital. The former Anna Marie Doyle was born on a farm near Guelph, one of the fifteen children of Michael F. Doyle and Catherine McDonald. The couple...

Sister Mary Anselm Egan

Sister Mary Anselm Egan

In 1948 she became again First Assistant to Mother Victoria and on the latter’s sudden death in February 1950, she acted as Superior General until the General Elections in July. She was then assigned the superiorship of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Edmonton, and during her...

Sister Mary Florentina Masterson

Sister Mary Florentina Masterson

Sister Mary Florentina (Teresa Masterson), daughter of John Masterson and Mary McPhail, was born at Finch in the parish of Chesterville, on November 18, 1881. Of the family of nine, two embraced religious life as Sisters of Providence. Teresa entered the novitiate in...

Sister Mary Inez Manion

Sister Mary Inez Manion

Sister Mary Inez, (Catherine Mary Manion), a daughter of Lawrence Manion and Johanna Devine, was born in the parish of Corkery, Ottawa diocese, and educated in the local school and Notre Dame Convent, Ottawa. When Mr. Manion died at the age of fifty-one, Mrs. Manion...

Sister Mary Edmund

Sister Mary Edmund

Alice Dorinda Smith, a daughter of John Smith and Margaret Trainor of Maplewood, P.E.I., was born on November 28, 1895 and baptized one week later at St. Joseph’s Church, Kelly’s Cross, P.E.I. Later the family moved to Charlottetown. The Smith home must have been an...

Sister Mary Columba Hyland

Sister Mary Columba Hyland

Sister Mary Columba, well known in Kingston city and archdiocese, died at Hotel Dieu Hospital on January 6, 1970. Born in County Galway, Ireland on October 21, 1883, the daughter of John Hyland and Mary Guilfoyle.  Mary Brigid was baptized three days later in the...

Sister Mary Casimir McDonald

Sister Mary Casimir McDonald

Sister Mary Casimir died at the Marian Infirmary, Providence Motherhouse, on December 9th after fifty-seven years of religious life. Sister was born in the parish of St. Patrick’s, Railton, Ontario, July 9, 1885 and baptized on August 2nd by Reverend Charles...

Sister Mary Esther Fowler

Sister Mary Esther Fowler

Sister Mary Esther was born at Mr. Chesney, Ontario, November 5, 1889, and baptized in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kingston, on November 10th by Reverend Thomas Murtagh. Her parents were Patrick Fowler and Mary Dillon, a couple of strong Irish faith, from whose family of...