Sister Joanne Deas, OP, of the Dominican Sisters, Sparkill, New York, died on August 21, 2018 in Dominican Convent’s Siena Hall, Sparkill, NY. She was 82 years old.
Born in Mt. Vernon, NY on January 22, 1936, Joanne was the daughter of Arthur and Anna Houlihan Deas. She entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill on September 8, 1953 and received the name Sister Theresa Anne. She professed her first vows in 1955 and her final vows in 1960.
Sister Joanne Deas received her BS in Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY 1958; her MS in Supervision and Administration from Fordham University, Bronx, NY 1975; she also studied at Ohio Wesleyan University and Manhattan College.
During her twenty-two years in the ministry of education, Sister Joanne Deas served in the Archdiocese of New York at St. Rose of Lima School, NYC (1955-1960); Our Lady of Grace School, Bronx (1960-1964); St. Paul School in Valley Cottage (1962-1967), and again at St. Rose of Lima School (1967-1970); and she returned to Our Lady of Grace School as Principal (1970-1977). From 1977 to 1984, Sister Joanne served as Business Manager at Albertus Magnus High School, Bardonia, NY. She served as treasurer of the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor in Ossining, NY from 1984-1987, and worked in Dominican Convent’s finance office in Sparkill from 1987-1994. In 1994 she assumed the responsibilities of Administrator of Dominican Convent in Sparkill, a position she held until 2017.
Sister Joanne Deas is predeceased by her parents Arthur and Anna Houlihan Deas. She is survived by her sister, Sister Jeanne Deas, OP, and cousins William and Dorothy Mulhern and their children, Beth, John and Mark; Joan and William Tully and their children Anne, Mary and William; Cynthia and Gerry Molnar; Michael and Mary Alice Farrell; and the many Kingsley cousins, her many friends, as well as the members of her beloved congregation.
Sister Joanne Deas was a kind and gracious woman who made a difference in the lives of those who knew her. She served her God and congregation faithfully for sixty-five years as a Dominican Sister of Sparkill. We thank God for her life and her goodness and we pray she may enjoy in the fullness of life in the presence of the God she loved and so faithfully served. We will miss her presence among us.