(1939-2024)

Before Mary Katherine came to live in Adrian, I did not know her. Our paths had never crossed. Who I came to know was a quiet, lovely woman who did not just read the Bible, she LIVED it. We heard last evening about a woman who spent her life doing what Jesus has asked ALL of us to do: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless …

Sister Maria Goretti Browne’s funeral homily for Sister Mary Katherine Dolan honored a woman whose service to others spanned the classroom, community organizing, pastoral ministry, and helping formerly incarcerated women make a new start in their lives.

Mary Kay, as she was known, was born in Chicago on October 20, 1939, to John and Marie (Haley) Dolan. She was the oldest child and the only girl, and when it came to her brothers – John, Lawrence, and Thomas – “I ruled the roost,” she said in her 2015 “A Sister’s Story” video.

Her father John was a city bus driver and, apparently, quintessentially Irish. “My mother and father were very good,” Sister Mary Kay said in the video. “We had a happy childhood, but I wouldn’t say it was calm and peaceful. It was kind of tumultuous. Our postulant mistress [Sister Kathleen O’Connell] was kind of bombastic, but I thought she was just normal. She never bothered me; she reminded me of my father: Irish!”

Read more about Sister Mary Katherine (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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(1923-2024)

When and where my life is over, I hope and pray that I will be ready for that last appointment.

For Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan, who put that sentence in her autobiography, her “last appointment” came on November 23, 2024, at the age of 101 and after a rich, joy-filled life full of ministry to others.

Josephine Bernadette Lekan was born on April 10, 1923, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Joseph and Frances (Perko) Lekan. Joseph and Frances were both born in a region of Austria which later became part of Yugoslavia and is now the country of Slovenia. They emigrated to America in the early part of the 20th Century and settled in Cleveland, where they met. Joseph worked in a steel mill, while Frances was a domestic worker.

The couple married in 1908, and two years later welcomed their first child, Joseph Jr. Eleven more children followed: twins Cy and Matt, Frank, Frances, John, Marie, Rosalie, Josephine, Louis, Angela (known as Pat), and Anthony.
 

Read more about Sister Miriam (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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(1930-2024)

When she retired from St. Peter the Apostle School in Harper Woods, Michigan, in 1995, the school declared May 17 of that year as “Sister Shirley Day.” After all, considering that she taught there for twenty-three years, she had certainly made her mark on the school, its staff, and its students.

In the tributes published in the school newsletter that week, the staff’s remembrances of her included these:

“Sister Shirley is a teacher who stops at nothing when it comes to motivating her students. She’s even been known to dance on the table for her fourth grade students.”

“Sister Shirley exemplifies what it means to be a fair but firm teacher. As her former student and now colleague, I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for her.”

“Sister Shirley has been an exemplary role model, as well as a dedicated religious woman to the teaching profession and to the hundreds of students she has taught.”

Read more about Sister Shirley (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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(1941-2024)

On behalf of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, its faculty, students, and alumni, I would like to offer a few words of gratitude for the gift that Sister Sarah was to our school.

During the years that Sarah taught here, her classes were the most popular classes on our campus, deservedly so. She was an exceptional teacher, not only because she was a gifted pedagogue; but – and especially – because the content she taught was something her students carried away from the classroom into their ministry. When we ask recent alumni which professor most influenced them in the ministry, many will say, Sarah Sharkey.

Ron Rolheiser, OMI, the Oblate School of Theology’s president emeritus, began his remembrance of Sister Sarah Sharkey, read at her wake service, with the above words about the Adrian Dominican Sister who had spent almost twenty years on the school’s faculty.

Sarah Ann Sharkey was born on January 12, 1941, in Abilene, Texas. She was the only child of Paul and Marceline (Braden) Sharkey. Paul was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, while Marceline was a native of Columbus, Texas.

Read more about Sister Sarah (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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