Sister Genevieve Welch, RGS (Sr. Mary Camillus) died at Epoch of Harwich in Harwich, MA on June 23, 2009 after a long illness. She was 92 years of age and had been a Sister of the Good Shepherd for 70 years.
Sister Genevieve was born Genevieve Marie in New York City, the daughter of Charles and Mary Agnes (McNeely) Welch. She was educated at St. Francis de Sales School and Cathedral High School in New York. She studied Accounting and College Math at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ and received her BS in Elementary Education at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. She entered the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1939 in Peekskill, NY and began her life-long career of caring for the poor and marginalized of society, with special focus on teen-age girls and women.
In 1942 after teaching the youngsters at St. Germaine's Home in Peekskill, she was missioned to Hartford, CT and during the next 6 years she made her Final Vows and served as teacher, bookkeeper, and assistant director of the Contemplative Community until 1949 when her services were requested in Boston, MA. Here she continued teaching, operating the switchboard, and becoming an assistant in the Social Service Department. She also continued to teach until 1953 when she again became an assistant social worker, as well as teacher in Brooklyn, NY. In 1957 she was invited to teach the young girls in St. Anne's Institute in Albany, NY until 1964. Sister Genevieve managed to keep abreast of new developments in her field, and continued to study at Boston College and Fordham University whenever her busy schedule permitted.
For the next 38 years Sister Genevieve served the teen-agers at Collier School in Wickatunk, NJ. Her talents were much in demand as teacher, sacristan, and tutor, and she even taught housekeeping skills to further prepare her girls for their future. In 2002 Sister Genevieve "retired," although she contributed much to the community in her ministry of prayer and congregational service. She continued this work in Dix Hills, Long Island, until 2007, when she was missioned to Marlborough, MA, and subsequently to Epoch of Harwich, MA, where she continued her prayer ministry.
Sister Genevieve is survived by her grandnieces, Janet Marchese of Fairlawn, NJ, and Genevieve Mende, of Monroe, New York and grandnephews, John Kyle Jr. of Connecticut and Alfred Keenan and Peter Keenan.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sister Genevieve by Rev. Brian Brinker at Good Shepherd Center Chapel on Friday, June 26, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. o'clock. Burial will take place at Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury, MA. Calling hours will be on Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 4 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home, 378 Lincoln Street, Marlborough www.sfcfh.com. Expressions of sympathy in Sister Genevieve's memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, MA 01752.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd were founded by St. Mary
Euphrasia Pelletier in France in 1835, in the United Staates (Louisville, Ky) in 1843, New York, 1957, Boston, 1867, and Harwichport, 1993.