Sister Veronica Lanham, OP of the Dominican Sisters, Sparkill, New York, died on October 23, 2018 in Siena Hall in Dominican Convent, Sparkill, NY. She was 97 years old.
Born in St. Louis, MO on October 25, 1920, Veronica was the daughter of Morris and Dora Brandt Lanham. She entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill on July 16, 1938 and received the name Sister Miriam. She professed her first vows in 40 and her final vows in 1945.
Sister Veronica received her BS in History from St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 1949 and her MA in Home Economics from Columbia University, New York, NY, 1956.
During her more than fifty years in the Ministry of Education, Sister Veronica Lanham first served in the Diocese of Brooklyn at St. Teresa School; Woodside, NY (1940-1941) and then went to serve in the Archdiocese of St. Louis at Epiphany School, St. Louis, MO. (1941-1949). Sister Veronica returned to the New York Archdiocese and taught at St. Martin of Tours School, Bronx, NY (1949-1955); St. John Chrysostom School, Bronx, NY (1955-1956); Aquinas High School, Bronx, NY (1956-1967) and Msgr. Scanlan High School, Bronx, NY (1967-1978; 1983-1986). From 1978-1982, Sister Veronica was the manager at Thorpe Senior Center; Sparkill, NY. In 1986, Sister Veronica returned to St. Louis and taught at St. Kevin School, (1986-1990) and continued to reside in St. Kevin’s Convent until 2001 when she came to Dominican Convent.
Sister Veronica Lanham is predeceased by her parents Maurice and Dora Brandt Lanham, her brother Eugene, and sisters Frances Bresnahan, Dolores Schellert and Virginia Vierling. She is survived by her brother-in-law Robert Vierling, and her many nieces and nephews and their families whom she adored.
Sister Veronica Lanham was a kind woman who made a difference in the lives of those who knew her. She served her God and congregation faithfully for more than eighty years as a Dominican Sister of Sparkill. We thank God for her life and her goodness and we pray she may enjoy the fullness of life in the presence of the God she loved and so faithfully served. We will miss her presence among us.