Sister Patrick Gallagher, CSC
(February 1, 1918 - November 15, 2010)
Please, join in prayer of thanksgiving for this Sister of the Holy Cross who died on November 15, 2010 in Saint Mary's Convent.
Word has been received of the death of Sister Patrick (Gallagher) who died at 9:45 p.m. on Monday, November 15, 2010, in Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Sister Patrick was always good with numbers. Even as a young girl just out of high school she got a job as a bookkeeper in the RCA Company. Her mathematical ability was soon recognized because that position quickly evolved into one that required analytical skills. Even though she was young, she was given the huge responsibility of estimating the amount of material needed for each order that came into the company.
She was very successfully employed and was able to help financially at home. Because of this, her parents were somewhat reluctant to have her leave home to enter the Congregation. However, with the help of the sisters in Lancaster, who had mentored her through her entire grade school and high school years, she entered Holy Cross at the age of 29.
Her talents extended to the field of music so when she started her academic program at Saint Mary’s College she became a music major. However, as was often the case in the early years of formation, when she was sent on mission to Washington, D.C. she transferred to Dunbarton College and her major was switched to mathematics with a minor in music. For the next 12 years she taught various grade levels but her responsibilities always included teaching music.
However, math soon became her area of expertise and she enrolled in the University of Notre Dame graduate school to continue her education in that field. The next phase of her ministry took her into the health system where her math skills and organizational abilities were put to good use. She was the comptroller and assistant administrator at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, for 12 years and at Mount Carmel Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, in like positions for another 10 years.
In 1989 after successful ministries in the fields of education and health care, Sister Patrick was assigned to Saint Mary’s to be the assistant to Grace Newrock, Director of Nursing, a position she held until she retired in 1994.
Sister Patrick had a deep devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Even as age and illness took a toll on her vitality, she continued to be eager to receive the Eucharist each day looking forward to that moment of perfect union with her Lord. She now rests there.