Sister Rosemary Sheehan, a Religious of the Sacred Heart and a well known educator, passed away suddenly on June 20.
From 1953-1956 she worked at the former Convent of the Sacred Heart girls’ school in Noroton, where she taught, worked in the infirmary and served as dormitory mistress. In 1965 Sister Sheehan began her almost 50 years of ministry at Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, twenty-two years of which she served as head of the Upper School.
During this time, she founded and directed a summer tutorial camp at the school for inner-city children, which lasts to this day, serving 300 elementary school children.was born on May 26, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. Affectionately known from college days as “Wickie,” she was the middle of fourteen children.
She enrolled at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N. Y., and completed a BA in nursing in 1948. Following graduation, she entered the Society of the Sacred. She took first vows in 1951 at Kenwood in Albany, N.Y., and made her final profession in Rome in 1957.
She continued her efforts to bring the girls to serve among the poor and worked with a program at Martin House in Trenton, NJ. Sister Sheehan returned to Greenwich in 1991, where she continued her work as director of outreach, fostering the school’s commitment to the Carver Center in Port Chester, where she also served on the board. For over 25 years, Headstart children came to campus every Tuesday for enrichment.
While at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, she was a member of the Bishop of Bridgeport Committee on Human Rights from 1967-1970. From 1978-1982 Sister Sheehan was chair of the Provincial Advisory Council, and she also served as a provincial chapter delegate and member of the steering committee from 1981-82.
Sister Sheehan’s death was unexpected. She was recovering from a fall when she developed pneumonia two days before she died on June 20.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Sister Sheehan at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, Connecticut on Saturday, June 24, at 2:00 pm. Burial will be at Kenwood Cemetery. She is survived by her sister Elizabeth Sheehan and her brother Michael Sheehan, 84 nieces and nephews, devoted alumnae, colleagues, friends and her religious sisters worldwide in the Society of the Sacred Heart.
(Memorial Contributions can be made to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, 1177 King St., Greenwich, CT 06831, for the Rosemary Sheehan, rscj Endowment for Summer Program.)
