Sister Mary Keehan, OP, of Dominican Convent, Sparkill, New York, died on January 18, 2014 in Nyack Hospital. Born in New York City on November 6, 1934, Mary was the daughter of Daniel and Mary Collins Keehan. attended St. Rita School, Bronx, NY, and Cathedral HS in Mahnattan. She entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill on September 8, 1953, and became known as Sister Edward Marie, professing her first vows in 1955 and her final vows in 1960.
Sister Mary earned a BS in Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 1958 and a MS in Education from St. John University in 1961. Sister was a teacher and administrator who served in the Archdiocese of New York and the dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center. She taught at St. Theresa, Bronx, NY (1955-56); St. Brendan, Bronx, NY (1956-58); Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Richmond Hill, NY (1958-61); Albertus Magnus HS, Bardonia, NY (1962-69); Aquinas HS, Bronx, NY (1969-71); Holy Trinity HS, Hicksville, NY (1971-72); St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY (1972-76); St. Edmund HS, Brooklyn, NY (1976-79, and she served as principal at St. John Chrysostom, Bronx, NY (1979-94). From 1994-96 she was director of the New York Archdicese’s Inner-City Scholarship Fund, and from 1996-2001 she served as the Development Director for Cathedral HS, New York, NY. In 2011Sr. Mary became a resident in Siena Hall at Dominican Convent.
Sister Mary is predeceased by her two brothers, Rev. Daniel Keehan and Rev. Edward Keehan, and by her twin sister, Sr. Joan Keehan, OP.
We will remember Sister Mary for her dedication in the field of education. For forty-six years she was a loving presence to the countless students she taught. Her warm personality and quick sense of humor endeared her to so many. She enjoyed putting ink to paper and has left us some beautiful pieces which we will treasure. She said: “Writing for me is inching closer to God and a great joy!” She was committed to her life as a Dominican sister and remained faithful to her call for sixty years. She was gift to us and now we commend her to the God she loved, and we ask the good Lord to give her peace among the company of the saints in heaven.