It is with great sadness that I share with you that I have just now received news that our beloved Sr Michaeline O’Dwyer RSHM passed peacefully away last evening in Tarrytown, NY. Sr Michaeline left Rome a little over a year ago to return to her native USA, and since then she has resided in the Retirement Centre for the Sisters where she received outstanding care and support in these last months of her life.
Michaeline has been a central figure in Marymount International School Rome since 1970. She served as Biology Teacher, Housemother, Nurse, SS Principal, Interim ES Principal, and over more recent years she held the position of Alumni Coordinator. She always expressed her delight in having contact with alumni, particularly her former students.
A lover of Italy, its people, the sun, the beaches, the towns around Rome, and most importantly the wide community of friends she had made here over the decades, Sr Michaeline balanced this passion for Italy with her deep love for her family who frequently visited her here on campus.
She played a key role in the Caravita community where she served on the Parish Council for many years.
Whilst Rome has been home to her for the majority of these past fifty years, she spent a wonderful period in Berkeley CA, served as interim Headmistress in London 2009-10 and again in Paris 2017-18, and was an invaluable Board member in Istituto Marymount, Paris, and London.
Sr Michaeline was born to Irish parents in New York City on September 24, 1936; she joined the RSHM on September 8, 1954 shortly after her graduation from the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary in New York City. Having completed the Novitiate in August 1956, she was assigned to teach Third and Fourth Grade students at St. Andrew Elementary School in Sag Harbor at the tip of Long Island. From there she moved to Fifth Grade teaching at St. Anne’s Elementary School in Garden City: this was followed by a stint at the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary.
In 1961 she returned to study, completing a Master’s degree in Biology at Marymount College Tarrytown and Fordham University. After her studies, she moved to Marymount College in Arlington, VA. in 1963 to teach in the Biology Department. Sr Michaeline also completed a nursing degree during this time. It was in 1970, that she first moved to Rome to Marymount International School. Her time in Rome was followed by a sabbatical year at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. She remained in Berkeley as Director of Development until 1997 when she was called to serve on the Eastern American Province Leadership Team in Tarrytown, for six years, and then as Provincial Councillor for another six years.
In the 2018 edition of Soundings Sr Michaeline reflected:
I guess I’ve learned lots of lessons over my long life. But when I think about these lessons, what comes immediately to mind is an event that caused me much pain, and that was leaving Marymount Rome in1984. From the time I arrived in Rome in 1970, I felt that this was the place for me, the place where I’d live and die. But it was not to be. I left Rome after fourteen years for a year’s sabbatical at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. I came to realize that ‘change’ was a good thing, that the change to Berkeley brought newness, many wonderful people and experiences into my life. In fact, during my thirteen years in Berkeley (a sabbatical morphed into a ministry!), I remember telling others how good change in one’s life can be. There were a few other changes after my years at JSTB and, although sad to leave one place for another, I knew the change would once again bring growth and newness.
– Michaeline O’Dwyer, RSHM
When School reopens in September, we shall have a Memorial Mass to celebrate Sr Michaeline’s remarkable life and ministry.
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace.
With gratitude for Michaeline’s life and sympathy at her passing
Sarah
