School Sister of Notre Dame Miriam Patrick O’Donnell died Jan. 15, 2013, at Lourdes Health Care Center in Wilton, Conn. She was 83 years old.
She was born Eleanor J. O’Donnell in Medford, Mass. She entered the congregation In 1947, made her first vows in 1950 and her final vows in 1956.
Sister O’Donnell earned a bachelor’s degree in 1960 from what is today Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore. She earned her master’s in English in 1968 from Boston College.
She taught at schools in Maryland and New York, including Bishop Kearney High School in Irondequoit (1968-70).
Although Sister O’Donnell retired from teaching in 2000, she continued working in education and community service by tutoring students at Marymount College in Manhattan and volunteering at St. Joseph Parish in Yorkville.
In 2005, she retired to prayer and presence at Villa Notre Dame, a retirement residence for SSNDs in Wilton, Conn. She moved to Lourdes Health Care Center in 2009.
Sister O’Donnell is survived by a sister, Charlotte Reilly of Waltham, Mass. Her sister Catherine Marie O’Donnell, SSND, died in November 2012.
A Mass of Christian burial was held Jan. 19, 2013, in the Chapel at Villa Notre Dame. Burial followed at St. Mary Cemetery in Bethel, Conn.
