50 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2020 IN MEMORY Sr Cathy Dean rsj 6 June 1955 ~ 23 July 2020 In early 2020, Sr Catherine Anne Dean rsj was elected to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Regional Leadership Team of Victoria/Tasmania; in February she was liaising with St Joseph’s Primary School, Numurkah to determine the best way to distribute funds donated to the Catholic Religious Australia Drought Appeal. In July, after thirty-three years of ministry in her Religious profession, Sr Cathy went to God. Her journey to professed life started as a lay missionary when as a qualified mothercraft nurse, she worked as House Mother to young Aboriginal girls at the remote Pallottine Mission in Tardun, Western Australia. She was a “vibrant and alive young woman, open to whatever lay ahead for her,” said fellow lay missionary Cheryl Sullivan. Sr Cathy felt a special calling to missionary life. She entered religious life in May 1985 and was professed in June 1988. While ministering in communities across Victoria she completed a Diploma of Ministry, (Clinical Pastoral Experience) and a Bachelor of Social Science (Pastoral Studies). She then embarked on life as a missionary, living and working with the women of the Pueblo in Pitumarca, a small community in the Andes. “I have several vivid memories of Cathy dancing for hours in Peruvian celebrations. She brought a joy, care and laughter to all she did,” said fellow Josephite Sr Katrina Brill of this time. After returning to Australia, Sr Cathy worked in various ministries across Victoria. In recent years, Sr Cathy ministered in Numurkah, and Shepparton where she became a “treasured Josephite”. “She was a bright and valuable member of our conference,” said a fellow member of the Numurkah Conference of St Vincent de Paul. “I loved seeing Cathy working away as a volunteer in Eco Park, Shepparton. She was treasured by the young adults and staff at Shepparton Access,” said Principal of St Luke’s Primary School Shepparton, David Keenan. In an online tribute to Sr Cathy, fellow Josephite, Sr Geraldine Larkins rsj wrote Cathy could light up a room with her smile and made all our lives a bit brighter and happier. “Cathy you shared your love of life and of all God’s people. Your smile was a gift to us all. Continue laughing and dancing with your God,” wrote Sr Niesha Allport rsj. Sr Anne Clooney fcj 22 April 1926 ~ 19 November 2020 The sight of Sr Anne Cooney FCJ busily riding her bicycle around Benalla in the 1980s brought a smile and sense of goodness in the world to the people of the town. Later, Sr Anne again became an icon at Benalla’s Cooinda Nursing home, riding her mobility scooter to take communion to the house-bound, smiling, waving and chatting to people along the way. Sr Anne Cooney “was born to be a sister,” said her brother Bill, but the pathway there was not straight forward for Sr Anne. Despite initially unsupportive parents, at the age of 23, Joyce Kathleen Cooney entered the Novitiate at FCJ Genazzano Convent and took the name Anne. She made her first vows two years later but, to her great disappointment, she was asked to leave the Society in 1957, just prior to making her final vows. With grit and determination Sr Anne kept the promise of her first vows − to live her whole life for Jesus, her faithful companion. She re-entered the convent in 1962 and was professed in 1970. Sr Anne’s artistic, creative and musical talents were perhaps not fully appreciated in post-war pre-Vatican II Australia but, as times changed, her gifts came to be truly appreciated and Sr Anne blossomed. In some ways she was ahead of her time, holding art classes and starting musical bands, for marginalised people in disadvantaged communities − what we now would call ‘art therapy’, no doubt giving a means of expression, personal fulfilment and validation to those with little means to do so. Wherever there was a need, Sr Anne was ready to answer that need. She worked tirelessly in outreach programs in the Parish of Sts Peter and Paul in South Melbourne and spent time as a missionary in Maasin in the Philippines. Giving the eulogy for Sr Anne, fellow FCJ sister, Sr Elizabeth Brown said Anne was never one for pomp and ceremony. She lived very simply and was profoundly and deeply in love with Jesus, her companion. This was often expressed in her paintings, especially in the illustrations that are in her bible placed before us in the sacred space today. Her spirituality was simple and uncomplicated – loving Jesus, loving and serving the poor, doing this with Mary at her side. Her trust in God loving her completely gave her a freedom to live simply and joyfully and to go wherever she could share her gifts. What brought her joy indeed as an FCJ sister was … to be an ambassador for Christ, walking with and being with the poorest of the poor in our society.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ0MTI=