Sr. Margaret Mary Allen, RSHM, died at Marymount Convent, Tarrytown, NY, on Sunday, September 20, 2020.
Sr. Margaret Mary Allen was 96 years of age and had been a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary for 72 years. She was born in Mount Vernon, NY, on June 22, 1924, to George and Nettie Skimin Allen.
She entered the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary on July 2, 1946 at Marymount, Tarrytown, NY, where she made her first vows on February 8, 1948 and her final vows on August 23, 1953.
She received a BA in Art from Marymount College, Tarrytown, NY and an MA in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College.
Sr. Margaret Mary taught art and English at Marymount Schools in Paris (1948-50); in Rome in both the Italian and International Schools (1950-53); in Santa Barbara, CA, (1953-1957). She taught and was principal of Marymount School in Cuernavaca, Mexico, which she helped to develop. (1957-1963)
She spent ten years in Colombia, in various ministries in Barranquilla, Bogota, and Florencia. She was principal and taught at Marymount Schools in Barranquilla and Bogota, and worked to get funding to build a hospital in Barranquilla. In Florencia, Sr. Margaret Mary was an itinerant teacher of children who are deaf, blind, developmentally disabled. She created ‘Centro Pilato,’ a school for children with these special needs. This experience led her to spend two years working for a degree in early childhood education while working with developmentally challenged students. (1963-1973)
Sr. Margaret Mary returned to New York, where for more than 30 years she lived at St. Catharine of Alexandria in Brooklyn. She taught the blind and worked with special education students in many of the nearby parishes: St. Catharine’s, Resurrection, Ascension, St. Finbar’s, and St. Brendan’s. She also taught kindergarten and pre-kindergarten at St. Catharine’s, where she continued to volunteer after she left classroom teaching. She also developed an art curriculum for the Diocese of Brooklyn. (1973-2005)
In 2005, she retired to Marymount Convent. She volunteered at the RSHM LIFE Center doing art projects with the children and teaching English as a Second Language to mothers. She continued to use her creative skills for others, designing bulletin boards and Birthday and Feast Day cards for the other Sisters. She was living at Marymount Convent at the time of her death.
Predeceased by her sister Mary Allen and her brother Robert Allen, she is survived by her sister Frances Bliss, nieces and nephews, and by the members of her RSHM community.
Services
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Mass of Christian Burial will be private. She will be buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery, White Plains.
Gifts in her name may be made to:
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, 50 Wilson Park Drive, Tarrytown, NY, 10591