Sister Carol Anton Battista, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 65 years, died Sept. 2.
Born in Brooklyn, as Carolyn, she attended St. John’s University, before entering the novitiate in 1952. Her profession of vows took place in 1954.
She taught at St. Joseph’s, Astoria, 1954-57; and St. Luke’s, Whitestone, 1957-67. She then taught at schools in the Rockville Centre Diocese while residing in Incarnation Convent, Queens Village, for 46 years, where she also taught eighth grade until her retirement in 2003.
She is survived by her sisters, Rosetta and Margaret.
Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Sept. 8 with burial at the sisters’ cemetery in Amityville.
Sister Miriam Cecile Lenihan, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 66 years, died Dec. 22. She was 84.
Born as Nora in Astoria, she attended St. Joseph’s School, Astoria, and Dominican Commercial H.S. in Jamaica. After working for a few months at the Brooklyn Marriage Tribunal in Brooklyn, she entered the congregation in 1951.
She taught at St. Catherine of Siena School, Springfield Gardens; American Martyrs, Bayside; and St. Patrick’s, Huntington, from 1953 to 1959.
She then studied music education, receiving a bachelor’s degree at Manhattanville College; a master’s from Queens College; and a doctorate in education from St. John’s University.
From 1969 to 1972, she was an itinerant music teacher while residing at Our Lady of Hope Convent, Middle Village, and Good Shepherd, Marine Park.
In 1979, she entered contemplative life as a member of the community at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in North Guilford, Conn.
In 1981, she returned to her Amityville community and began a long tenure as a music professor and department chairman at Molloy College, Rockville Centre.
She learned to play the harp and during her retirement years could often be found playing in the rotunda at feast days and jubilee celebrations in Amityville.
Sister Miriam Cecile is survived by her brother, John, and her sisters, Alice and Catherine. Burial was in the Sisters Cemetery in Amityville.
Sister Patricia Dolores Wagner, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 62 years, died suddenly Dec 26. She was 82 years old.
Born in Canarsie, she attended Catherine McAuley H.S., for a couple of years. She encountered the Dominican Sisters when she accompanied her mother on a retreat at Our Lady of Prouille Retreat House in Amityville.
She entered the congregation in 1955 and the following year she received her habit and religious name, Sister Marymel. She pronounced her vows on Aug. 8, 1957.
After studies at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, and Fordham University, Bronx, she taught at St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge; Notre Dame, New Hyde Park; Christ the King, Commack; St. Elizabeth, Ozone Park; and St. Frances de Chantal, Borough Park.
In 1974, she began teaching mathematics at St. Michael H.S., Brooklyn, and later at Dominican Commercial H.S. in Jamaica. In the late 1970s, she began teaching computer programming at Dominican Commercial. While teaching at Dominican Commercial, she resided at Bethany Convent, L’Chayim Community, Elmhurst, and Notre Dame Convent, New Hyde Park.
From 1998 to 2000, she was a mathematics tutor at Molloy College. In 2000 she became financial assistant at Holy Spirit School, New Hyde Park, and in 2005 an administrative assistant for specialized ministries. She retired in 2009 after more than 50 years in active ministry. Burial was in the Sisters’ Cemetery in Amityville.
Sister Loretta Natoli, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 56 years, died Jan. 28. She was 75.
Born in Brooklyn, she attended St. Michael’s H.S., and worked for a year before entering the novitiate in 1961. She pronounced final vows in 1966 and received the religious name of Sister Melanie.
She taught at St. Clement Pope School, South Ozone Park; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dyker Heights; St. Jude, Canarsie; St. Patrick, Bay Ridge; and St. Anselm, Bay Ridge.
She also served as an administrative assistant at the Nursing Sisters Home Visiting Service and St. Bartholomew School, Elmhurst.
In 2015, illness necessitated a move to Carlin Hall at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse.
Sister Joseph Maureen Zick, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, L.I., for 67 years, died March 10. She was 85.
Born in Jamaica as Dorothy, she attended St. Elizabeth School, Ozone Park, and the Sisters’ Juniorate H.S. at Villa Maria, Watermill, L.I. She entered the novitiate in 1950 and pronounced her final vows in 1952.
She taught at St. Thomas Apostle School, Woodhaven, and Most Holy Trinity, and St. Nicholas Schools, both Williamsburg, until 1973 when she was named assistant principal at St. Thomas Apostle.
In 1978, she was assigned to St. Joseph’s parish, Astoria, where she was a liturgist and also taught in the school.
From 1986 to 2000, she served as the principal of Most Holy Trinity School in Williamsburg.
After a one-year sabbatical, she returned to teaching at St. Mary Star of the Sea, Court St., and later was principal at St. Pancras, Glendale.
In 2008, she retired but remained living in St. Pancras convent. Because of deteriorating health she spent periods of recuperation in Carlin Hall in Amityville.
In May of 2017, she moved to Carlin Hall permanently.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in St. Albert’s Chapel at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Amityville.
Sister Regis Milhaven, O.P., a Sister of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 67 years died March 17. She was 87.
Born as Rose Regis, she attended St. Agnes A.H.S., College Point, where she met the Dominican Sisters. She entered the novitiate at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse Sept. 6, 1948.
She received the habit and her religious name, Sister John Regis on Aug. 4, 1949. She professed final vows the following year.
The first 30 years of her ministry were devoted to education. Locally she taught physics, chemistry and was department chair at St. Agnes A.H.S..
She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. John’s University and a doctorate from Fordham University. In 1969 she began teaching at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, where she earned the rank of professor. She also taught at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.
Drawn to ministry among immigrant populations, Sister Regis embraced pastoral ministry and religious education at St. Ignatius, Crown Heights, St. Peter Claver, Bedford-Stuyvesant and St. Barbara, Bushwick.
In the early 1980s, she became an advocate at St. Mary’s Hospital, Brooklyn, and then director of religious education at Our Lady of Sorrows, Corona.
At St. Mary Star of the Sea, Carroll Gardens, she once again ministered in pastoral services. Returning to religious education, from 1990 to 1995, Sister Regis was director of religious education at St. Paul the Apostle, Corona.
In 1995, she moved to the motherhouse in Amityville, where she first served as a researcher and then as a driver. She took sisters to doctor appointments and to visits with family.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in St. Albert’s Chapel at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, March 20. Burial followed in the Sisters’ cemetery.
Sister Mary Bertram, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 72 years, died May 18. She was 93.
Born as Helen, she and her eight brothers and sisters, were raised in Astoria. She attended St. Joseph School there.
After high school, she worked for a few years and then entered the Novitiate at Amityville in 1945. She pronounced her vows in 1947 and began her teaching ministry at St. Joseph Patron, Bushwick, where she remained for the next 15 years.
In 1962, she began teaching at Cure of Ars, Merrick, L.I., and at St. Catherine of Sienna, Franklin Square.
In 1984, she moved to Sacred Heart Convent, Cambria Heights, and worked as school secretary at St. Clement Pope, South Ozone Park. After earning a master of science degree from CW Post/LIU, in 1986 she assumed the role of audio visual specialist at St. Agnes H.S./Kellenberg Memorial H.S., Uniondale.
A transition from education came in 1991 when she moved to Our Lady of Consolation Convent in Amityville. There she was a driver for the Sisters and did the shopping for the house.
In 2005, she retired from active ministry and in 2008 moved to Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse.
Burial was in the Sisters’ cemetery in Amityville.
Sister Theresa Kilcommons, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, L.I., for 71 years, died June 11. She was 89.
Raised in Lynbrook, L.I., she attended St. Raymond Elementary School in East Rockaway, and Bishop McDonnell H.S., Crown Heights, where she met the Sisters of St. Dominic.
She entered the novitiate on Sept. 8, 1946. On Aug. 4, 1947, she received her habit and religious name, Sister Kilian. She pronounced her vows on Aug. 7, 1948.
She earned her bachelor’s degree at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, and her master’s degree at St. John’s University.
Her ministry in elementary education spanned nearly three decades, beginning with her first assignment at Sacred Heart, East Glendale, in 1948.
She went on to teach elementary grades at Holy Redeemer, Freeport; Curé of Ars, Merrick; St. Martin, Amityville; St. Ignatius, Hicksville; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Lindenhurst; St. Agnes, Rockville Centre, and Incarnation, Queens Village.
She served as director of religious education at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Lindenhurst, 1976-84.
After a year at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Centerport, she returned to teaching on the secondary level at Queen of the Rosary Academy, Amityville, and then Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead.
In 1988, she moved to St. Anthony, Oceanside, and served as development director at Dominican Commercial H.S., Jamaica. She joined the community at St. Martin, Amityville, and became development director at the parish school.
After a sabbatical at Siena Spirituality Center, Water Mill, she served as a residence aide at Bishop Ryan Residence, Copiague, and as a clerical worker at the Amityville Motherhouse, and then at St. Aloysius School, Ridgewood.
She retired in 2003, and moved to Carlin Hall at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse in 2016.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in St. Albert Chapel, Amityville. Burial followed in the Sisters’ cemetery.
Sister Kathleen Murphy, O.P., a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 74 years, died June 16. She was 94.
Born in Fall River, Mass., she attended Dominican Academy, Manahttan; and Ladycliff College for one year.
She worked at the Naval Training Station in Massachusetts and as a waitress before entering the Novitiate at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Amityville, in 1944. On year later, she received her Dominican habit and her religious name, Sister Mary Thomas. In 1946, she pronounced her vows.
She taught St. Clement Pope School, Ozone Park, 1946-51; St. Barbara’s H.S., an annex to Bishop McDonnell H.S; St. Agnes Academic H.S., College Point, where she taught English and mentored the students who worked on the school paper and the drama group which put on plays. While at St. Agnes she also founded a Guidance Department.
She held a B.A. in English from St. John’s University, and an M.F. A. from Fordham University. In 1964, she joined the staff of the Brooklyn Diocesan Office of Education where she was Coordinator of Pupil Personnel Services.
From 1969 to 1976, she was a counselor and an associate professor at Boston College. From 1976 to 1977, she worked at St. Ignatius Retreat House, Manhasset, L.I., while beginning to establish a Spiritual Life Center in New Hyde Park.
The following year she became an adjunct professor at Fordham’s School of Religious Studies as the Spiritual Life Center began to take life in earnest. From 1972 to 1978, she ministered at the Spiritual Life Center both giving spiritual guidance and training many others to be spiritual directors. After a one-year sabbatical in 1982 at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, Calif., she returned the next year to the Spiritual Life Center which had moved to Franklin Square, L.I. She was a Regional Superior and member of the Congregation’s Executive Board, from 1985 to 1995. When her term was finished she returned to full-time ministry at the Spiritual Life Center, where she remained until her retirement in 2009.
Burial was in the sisters’ cemetery in Amityville.
Sister Ave Clark, O.P., received the St. Catherine of Siena Award from her order, the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, at a Nov. 2 reception. Presenting the award is Sister Mary Pat Neylon, O.P., prioress. (Photo: Michael Rizzo)
Generous. A gift giver. A saint.
Those were some of the many accolades heaped on Sister Ave Clark, O.P., who received the St. Catherine of Siena Award from her fellow Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, L.I., at the annual Dominican Gala on Nov. 2.
Sister Ave was honored for the work of her Heart to Heart Ministry, based in Bayside, through which she conducts retreats and offers counseling in parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn and throughout the New York metropolitan area.
About 300 people attended the reception at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, N.Y.
Love, Given and Received
From the start of the festivities, Sister Ave could be seen welcoming the many attendees with enthusiastic hugs. She seemed to know each of them by name. And that energy came back to her tenfold.
“She sends out love and she’s full of love,” Pat Lannon said of the night’s honoree. Lannon, who grew up in Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, Williamsburg, now leads the prayer group at St. Catherine of Sienna parish, Franklin Square, L.I., in which Sister Ave participates.
“She can meet complete strangers and take them into her heart,” Lannon added.
Sister Ave felt the love and gave it right back. “It’s a humble, wonderful, holy feeling,” she said of being honored, “with all the memories I have of what I’ve learned from all of these people.”
To Giulia Dimilta of Immaculate Conception parish in Astoria, that was classic Sister Ave.
“She teaches you to do everything with love,” Dimilta said. “Just her voice alone is soothing and so calm.”
Before recognizing Sister Ave, the gala honored Al Roker, the meteorologist on NBC News’ Today Show, with its Veritas Award. Roker could not attend the dinner but sent a video thanking the Dominican Sisters who taught him at St. Catherine of Siena’s elementary school in St. Albans.
The introduction of Sister Ave began with James Palmaro of St. Augustine parish Park Slope reciting his poem “Another Candle.”
Palmaro, who is blind, met Sister Ave at a retreat in 2017 and said they’ve been in touch ever since.
“That’s the Dominican way,” he said on why he chose this poem to recite for his friend, “to light a candle to dispel darkness and that’s what she does.”
In her acceptance remarks, Sister Ave, who grew up in Holy Innocents parish in East Flatbush, spoke of the people, young and old, who have touched her life. She thanked her family and friends as well as her fellow religious.
Sister Ave invited some friends to join her on stage to hold tea lights and sing, “This Little Light of Mine.”
Spreading Her Light
She also called up to the stage several special needs adults she supports in St. Matthias’ parish in Ridgewood and Sacred Heart parish in Bayside and had them hold tiny tealight candles.
“Sing with me,” she then said, and led the entire room in the gospel song, “This Little Light of Mine.”
She encouraged everyone present to be lights for those less fortunate.
“She reaches out to those in need and helps them and that’s our mission,” said Sister Mary Pat Neylon, O.P., prioress of the Amityville Dominicans.
“She has an unassuming way and keeps her sense of humor even in suffering. We picked the right one to represent us,” she said.
Sister Ave’s suffering included a 2004 train accident that leaves her walking with a cane. But as one friend said, even a train crash couldn’t stop her.
So, as the night turned from dinner to dancing, there was Sister Ave – her cane held high like a modern-day Moses parting the waters of revelers – encouraging everyone to celebrate this joyous evening with her.
The proceeds from the Dominican Gala, estimated at about $150,000 for this year’s event, support the ministries of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville in the New York area and as far as Puerto Rico.
COLLEGE POINT — On Jan. 13, St. Agnes Academic High School announced it will be closing at the end of this school year. Sister Peggy McVetty, OP, prioress of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, wrote the “decision to end 112 years of excellent education had been most difficult.” The high school had been co-educational for 40 years before becoming an all-girls institution in 1949.
“The financial realities during the past several years have made it impossible to sustain the school,” the letter continued. “The unprecedented economic projections and ramifications of the pandemic have only complicated the previously existing difficulties.”
The 2020-2021 tuition, plus the non-refundable registration fee and technology fee for returning students, totaled $10,075.
Families attended virtual meetings to voice questions and concerns to the Leadership Council of the Sisters and St. Agnes’ administration. The school also stated it’s trying to develop a plan that would allow current juniors to accelerate their studies and earn a St. Agnes diploma by August, if they so desire.
Brianna Maher ’21 with St. Agnes Academic High School’s mascot at a previous school function. (Photo: Courtesy of Teresa Maher)
St. Agnes Principal Susan Nicoletti sent a letter to the students who had applied for the fall — encouraging them to reach out to The Mary Louis Academy, the only all-girls high school remaining in Queens, as well as other Catholic high schools.
Eighth-grader Hannah Maher listed St. Agnes as one of her three choices on the TACHS exam in November. Her mother Teresa thought Nicoletti’s call to their residence on Jan. 13 was in regards to the admissions determination. Instead, it was confirmation that St. Agnes would no longer be operating.
Hannah’s older sister, Brianna, said the graduating class hopes the closure isn’t a done deal.
“Even though it’s my senior year, it still affects me because I was looking forward to visiting my friends and other grade levels, coming home from college on one of my days off, and sitting in class with the rest of them,” Brianna said.
Within hours, alumnae flocked to Facebook, asking what could be done to reverse the decision. Alumna Robin Loesch, who was part of St. Agnes’s centennial graduating class in 2008, was devastated. She said she appreciated how St. Agnes provided her with stability and support as she navigated the foster care system during that time.
“I was becoming a more compassionate and confident woman, which is really important to me coming from my background,” Loesch said. “St. Agnes was this family I knew I could count on and would be stable for me because I didn’t have that growing up from either side of the people I lived with.”
Sister Francis Piscatella, OP, celebrates her 108th birthday and 90th year with the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville in 2021. (Photo: Courtesy of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville)
AMITYVILLE, L.I. — Sister Francis Piscatella, OP, a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville for 90 years, turned 108 years old on April 20. She is loved by her fellow sisters and former students, having fostered the faith of so many women and displaying fierce determination in overcoming obstacles and following God’s path.
After Sister Francis took her vows at the age of 18, other Dominican sisters were sent out to “the missions” to begin teaching. Sister Francis, however, was kept back due to a perceived disability — her arm had been amputated when she was a child. Although her teaching skills were proven to be exemplary, she had taught her fellow sisters at the Motherhouse Complex to help them earn their high school degrees.
However, as her close friend and fellow Sister of St. Dominic Francis Daniel Kammer recalls, that changed soon after.
A new sister, who had been sent to teach at Fourteen Holy Martyrs in Bushwick, returned to the Motherhouse due to the stress of the job. The congregation sent Sister Francis as a substitute, for just a week, until another replacement could be found.
When the pastor was told of the situation, he simply asked, “Can she teach?” Sister Alfred, who had accompanied Sister Francis there at the time, retorted, “She is a great teacher.”
The pastor, as Sister Francis Daniel remembers, said, “Then she stays!” Sister Francis went on to teach at Fourteen Holy Martyrs for eight years.
“She is one of the greatest teachers that the Dominican Order has ever had,” said Sister Kammer, who was one of Sister Francis’s students at Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica, and was sponsored by Sister Francis when joining the order. The two currently live together.
“Taking a math class with Sister Francis was like opening your head and pouring the knowledge in,” Sister Kammer said.
Sister Francis’s reputation went beyond the classroom at Dominican Commercial High School — where she taught for 17 years — and spread to surrounding schools in the area. Students who failed during the year were sent by their own school administration to Dominican Commercial for summer school, seeking out Sister Francis specifically — with the assurance that they could learn math and pass the class with her help.
Sister Francis went on to tutor and teach in other schools, including St. Michael’s in New York for three years, St. Bartholomew’s in Elmhurst for one year, and Molloy College in Rockville Centre for 52 years. She also served in the financial aid office at Molloy College during her career. Sister Francis retired from Molloy in the late 1990s when she was 84 years old.
“She was a dynamic teacher,” said Sister Margaret Schmit, who was also sponsored by Sister Francis and was one of Sister Francis’s students at both St. Michael’s and Dominican Commercial. “Everyone loved her. She also had the sweetest singing voice.”
Sister Francis Piscatella, OP (center) has inspired so many throughout her life. (Photo: Courtesy of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville)
Sister Jeanne Brendel, another sister who was sponsored by Sister Francis, said she always admired Sister Francis’s loving ways and perseverance. She recalled that when Sister Francis followed the call to religious life, she was declined by four communities due to her disability.
“They didn’t know what she would be able to do,” Sister Jeanne explained. “The Amityville Dominicans, under the leadership of Mother Anselma, embraced her, and she became the most wonderful role model for all of us — young sisters and older sisters too — because she is so loving and so determined.”
Sister Jeanne also recalled a time when they went to a restaurant and bumped into a former student who was thrilled to see Sister Francis. The student had excitedly recalled her favorite memories of Sister Francis.
Afterward, Sister Jeanne marveled and asked Sister Francis, “Do you see the impact you have made?” Sister Francis just smiled.
“She is so humble,” Sister Jeanne added.
Though Sister Francis has kept a low profile during the pandemic, her prayer life remains fervent as she continues to attend and watch Mass and spends much of her time in prayer.
