Sister Marie Canice Walsh, RSHM, died Friday, September 24, 2021, at Marymount Convent, Tarrytown, NY.
She was 101 years of age and had been a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary for 73 years.
She was born Alice Walsh on June 27, 1920, to Richard and Mary Galavan Walsh in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, an area with many connections to the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Her own family connections begin with her grandparents, who went to school with Mother Butler, the foundress of Marymount, Tarrytown, NY.
She entered the congregation at the RSHM Novitiate in Tarrytown, on November 7, 1946. She made her first vows on August 29, 1948, in Tarrytown, where she also made her final vows on August 29, 1953.
Ministry
She began her ministries in the sewing room and Tea House at Marymount College, Tarrytown, NY.
Sr. Canice taught children from every age and background imaginable. Her ministries in elementary and secondary schools took her across the country, as well as to Canada and Europe.
Elementary schools: St. Andrew’s, Sag Harbor, NY; St. Mary’s, Long Island, NY; St. Bridget’s, Richmond, VA; Notre Dame, BC, Canada; St. Lucy’s, NYC; St. Ignatius, NYC; St. Catharine of Alexandria, Brooklyn, NY; and, St. Pius X, Rosedale, NY.
Secondary schools: Sacred Heart of Mary, Park Terrace, NY; Sacred Heart of Mary, Rolling Meadows, IL; Marymount, Tarrytown, NY; and, Istituto Marymount, Via Nomentana, Rome, Italy.
Summer camps: SHM Camp, Sag Harbor, NY; Jewish Camp for Handicapped, Hunter, NY; Diocesan Handicapped Camp, Pawling, NY; CCD Camp, Pensacola, FL; Camp Inuit, Chetwynd, BC, Canada; Project Discovery, Marymount, VA; and, Happy Time Camp, Marymount, Rome.
Through her many ministries and workshops, she was able to travel the world and visited every US state except Hawaii.
She was a lifelong learner. She received a BA in History and English from Marymount College, Tarrytown, NY, and an MA in History and Sociology from Hunter College, New York City. During summers, she took part in numerous programs in colleges and universities from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as well as in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and India.
She was a poet who had won several awards for her poems.
In 1997, she returned to St. Catharine of Alexandria, Brooklyn where she had taught for several years. Gradually she retired from teaching but remained active in the parish. She did not fully retire until 2013 at the age of 93 when walking became more difficult. She moved to Marymount Convent where she was living at the time of her death.
Sister Canice is survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins in Ireland and the United States and by the members of her RSHM community.
Services
Services at Marymount Convent, 32 Warren Avenue, Tarrytown, NY. Visiting Thursday, October 7, 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm followed by a Vigil Service at 7:00 pm. Mass of Christian Burial, Friday, October 8,10:30 am. Burial Mount Calvary Cemetery, White Plains.
We ask all non-RSHM attending to present proof of vaccination and to please wear a mask.
We invite you to join us for the live-streamed Vigil Service and Mass on our website (www.rshm-east.org) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ReligiousoftheSacredHeartofMaryEAP ), where it will be archived.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in her name may be made to Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, 50 Wilson Park Drive, Tarrytown, NY, 10591.