MARLBOROUGH - Sister Mary Eileen Foley (Josephine M. Foley) died Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011 at St. Patrick's Manor in Framingham after a brief illness. She was 85 years of age and had been a Sister of the Good Shepherd for 62 years.
Sister Mary Eileen was born July 31, 1925 in Dedham, the daughter of Patrick Foley and Ellen (Breen) Foley. She was educated in the public schools of Dedham and graduated from Dedham High School in 1943. Sister Mary Eileen worked as a secretary in the Dedham School System for five years, and then entered the Good Shepherd Novitiate in Peekskill, N.Y., in 1948 where she began her formal training caring for the poor and marginalized of society, with special focus on teenage girls. Sister Mary Eileen made her first profession in 1951 and was missioned to the House of the Good Shepherd on Huntington Avenue in Roxbury where she taught English and Religion in Mary Immaculate Junior-Senior High School. She made her final profession in 1954.
Sister Mary Eileen earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Boston College and went on to earn her Master's degree in Educational Administration and Supervision. When the residential program moved from Huntington Avenue to Marlborough in 1964, the name was changed to Madonna Hall for Girls and Sister Eileen became the assistant principal of the school. She became the principal of Mary Immaculate Junior-Senior High School at Madonna Hall and initiated many innovative and creative educational experiences for the girls. She developed an excellent educational program that enabled the girls to enter the job market or pursue further study, serving in that capacity until 1972. In 1972 Sister Mary Eileen accepted a position to teach at Aquinas College in Milton, where she taught for eight years. She earned her CAES in Religious Studies and Ministry from Boston College and then became Director of Religious Education at St. Mary's Parish in Melrose. In 1995, Sister Mary Eileen went on to study CPE and became a Certified Catholic Chaplain. Sister served as Chaplain at Worcester State Hospital for 11 years where she was beloved by both patients and staff until her retirement in 2006 at the age of 81. Sister Mary Eileen was a prolific writer, having published over 100 articles in various periodicals, newspapers and professional magazines. In 1985, Sister wrote a play commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in North America. This play was performed for the North American Provinces in Louisville, Ky. Sister Mary Eileen is survived by her three sisters, Eileen Curtin of South Dennis, Marianne Foley of South Yarmouth, and Virginia Noyes of East Dennis; and her many loving and devoted nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. A Mass of Christian burial will be offered Friday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m., at Good Shepherd Center, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, by Rev. John Allard, OP. Visiting hours at Good Shepherd Center will be held Thursday, Feb. 3, from 4 to 8 p.m., with a Prayer Service at 7 p.m. Burial will be in Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald and Collins Funeral Home (www.CollinsFuneral.com), 378 Lincoln Street, Marlborough. Expressions of sympathy in honor of Sister Mary Eileen may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd, a worldwide congregation, was founded in France by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in 1835, in Boston in 1867, in Marlborough in 1964 and in Harwichport, 1993.