Sister Rosaleen Dunleavy, CSC
( - December 18, 2008)
Please, join in prayer of thanksgiving for this Sister of the Holy Cross who died on December 18, 2008.
Sister Rosaleen was a person of strong values and loyalties. She was deeply dedicated to her family, her community and to her work, and she never stinted in her generosity to any of them. Nothing was ever halfhearted, neither family relations nor professional responsibilities.
Sister was the last of her generation in the family dynasty and this year members came from near and far to be with her and shower her with their devotion and love. The feeling was mutual. Whatever ministry she accepted was embraced with zeal and vigor. She often worked seven days a week to accomplish the tasks she set for herself. The organizational skills that grew out of her science background stood her in good stead when after almost 50 years of wonderfully successful teaching she took on the job of archivist at Saint Mary’s College where again, success was her hallmark.
As a religious of strong principles and convictions she was reluctant to embrace the changes in religious life that were a part of the post-Vatican II mentality. These same principles and convictions permeated her interactions in her professional life. She was a serious person who projected an attitude of deep respect for her students as well as for the subject matter she taught. Biology, the study of life, was her area of expertise, and the students soon absorbed the respect she had for all forms of life including their own. However, this serious demeanor sometimes disguised an underlying delightful sense of humor, which bubbled to the surface in unexpected times and ways.
Sister Rosaleen loved Saint Mary’s College. She spent almost 40 years of her professional life there as a beloved teacher, a dedicated director of the Associates Program and a skilled archivist. The final tribute was the establishment of a scholarship in her name in 2006.
Once Sister retired to Saint Mary’s Convent in 1997, she gave herself over to complete acceptance and appreciation of every aspect of that phase of her life. Her family and her students kept her involved with their lives through frequent contact and visits; she kept them involved in her daily life of prayer.
She now takes her well-deserved rest with the Lord. May Sister Rosaleen rest in peace.
Funeral arrangements for Sister are as follows: Reception of the body at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, December 22, 2008, with the funeral Mass with eulogy at 1:30 p.m. the same day. These ceremonies will take place in the Church of Our Lady of Loretto. May Sister Rosaleen rest in peace.