Hill, Mary Josephine Dc Sr.

MENANDS- Daughter of Charity Sister Mary Josephine Hill died peacefully on July 30, 2013 at St. Louise House, Menands.

Sister Mary Josephine Hill was born and raised in Ansonia, CT. in 1916 to Helen Sheehy and James Michael Hill. She grew up there with her brothers Jim and Ed and sister Eleanor. She graduated from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Bridgeport, Ct. She entered the Daughters of Charity in March 1949 and later received her Bachelors in Nursing from Catholic University in Washington, DC . Sister spent 21 years in health care serving in various capacities in Jacksonville, FL; Dorchester, MA; Washington, DC; Binghamton, NY; Baltimore, MD; and Waterville, ME. The last of these was Sisters Hospital in Waterville, ME from which the Daughters of Charity withdrew in the early 1970s.It is said that when God closes one door, He opens a window. The withdrawal from Waterville freed Sister Mary Josephine and, after a year in Vineland, N.J., she went with five companions to open a mission in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y. Here she spent 29 years in the direct service of some of our country’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Sister initiated the Nursing Aide Training Program at St. John’s and taught full time in this special ministry. She was able to create effective links with nearby nursing homes where her students received good practical experience and later obtained suitable employment. The program she established continues to operate successfully. She changed the lives of the men and women she worked with so that her students gained useful employment and regained their independence. It is fitting that one who did so much to train good medical care givers now is served by many who are similarly trained and loved her.She came to St. Louise in 2000. Her smile was a joy to see. Her feet always danced to music——even in a Gerry chair.

Sister Mary Josephine is predeceased by her parents and brothers and sister.She is survived by her nieces, Mary Infante, Nadine DePalma, Ellen Mahony, Macaire Stein, Susan Mahony and nephews John and Sandra Mahony,Colum and Judy Mahony .

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, August 2, 2013 in the DePaul Provincial House Chapel at 10:30 AM. Interment will follow in St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands, NY.

A Wake Service remembering Sister will be held at 7PM on Thursday, August 1, 2013. Calling hours will begin Thursday from 4PM when the body returns and is blessed in the DePaul Chapel, 96 Menand Road, Albany, NY 12204.

Donations may be made to the Daughters of Charity Ministries, 4330 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO. 63108 – 2622.