Daughter of Wisdom Sister Mary Eileen McCarthy, also known as Sister John of the Heart of Jesus, died Sept. 29 at age 96. She was living at of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent, Sound Beach, N.Y., and had marked 77 years as a professed religious sister.
Sister Mary Eileen served in the Arlington diocese as a teacher at Montfort Academy in Fredericksburg, 1950-52 and 1979-98, and at St. Bernadette School in Springfield 1976-79.
She was born to Michael and Catherine McCarthy in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 9, 1927. She entered the Daughters of Wisdom Jan. 31, 1945. She made her first profession Aug. 2, 1946, and her final vows Aug. 2, 1951.
Sister Mary Eileen attended Bishop McDonnell/St. Barbara’s Annex in Brooklyn, graduating in 1944. She earned her bachelor of arts in English from St. John’s University, Jamaica, N.Y., in 1963, and her master’s in math education from St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford, Conn., with certification in English and math education.
Sister Mary Eileen devoted a lifetime of service as a teacher in many New York, Virginia and Connecticut schools in an education career spanning from 1946 to 1998. She began as a teacher at St. Mary Gate of Heaven, Ozone Park, N.Y., 1946-50; next at Montfort Academy in Fredericksburg, 1950-52, and then at St. Mary’s Academy in Norfolk, 1952-61. She served as principal of St. Mary’s Academy, 1957-61. In 1961, she returned to St. Mary Gate of Heaven, teaching there until 1966. She taught at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Waterbury, Conn., 1966-76; at St. Bernadette’s in Springfield, 1976-79 before returning to Montfort, 1979-98.
Upon retiring from teaching in 1999, Sister Mary Eileen became a part-time archivist for the Daughters of Wisdom Provincial Office in Islip, N.Y. She continued in that position for more than 17 years until her retirement and relocation to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent in 2020.
Sister Mary Eileen shared that her last teaching ministry at Montfort Academy was the most life-giving experience for her.
Former student Monica Jacobe, Class of 1993, now a college professor, described Sister Mary Eileen’s impact on her students.
“I remember Sister Mary Eileen as one of the best and strongest female role models that I had as a young woman,” Jacobe said. “I lost my mother while a student at Montfort. I was 8 and in the second grade. Sister Mary Eileen was for me at that time a quiet but a strong person. As an eighth grader, she was my teacher. I still found her strong but I also found her fair, funny and very smart.
“Each day as I walk into a classroom, I feel that I carry part of her with me and my students respect and befriend me because of it,” she said. “I am a better person, teacher and woman for having had her as my teacher.”
Sister Mary Eileen was predeceased by her parents; twin brother, John; brother, James; and niece, Tara. She is survived by her nephews Stephen, Neil, and niece, Laurette.
Donations in Sister Mary Eileen’s memory may be made to https://bit.ly/DaughtersOfWisdomDonate.
