Sister Isabel Rabbon, MM
Born: June 17, 1933
Entered: September 2, 1956
Died: May 19, 2024
Isabel Rabbon, one of the gentlest members of the 1956 entrance group, stunned everyone when she collapsed the day after she had joined her group for a little party. That she never regained consciousness evokes Psalm 62, “For you alone my soul waits in silence, Heart of my heart, you speak to me in the Silence.” Isabel’s sister Lani, who had come to visit with her son Dennis, and all the Sisters who dropped by to be with her, sensed somehow that she knew they were there by her side. On May 19, 2024, she quietly slipped away at 3:45 A.M. one month shy of her 91st birthday. She had been a Maryknoll Sister for sixty-eight years.
Isabel was born in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii on June 17, 1933, the second of four children, three girls and one boy, to Dionisio Rabbon and Irene Ragsag Rabbon. Her brother, John, the youngest in the family, her sister, Rufina Kula (Lani) and her nephew, Dennis Kula, survives her. Her brother-in-law, Ronald Kula, Lani’s husband, her sister, Socorro, the firstborn, Harold Ford, Socorro’s husband, and their son, Tim have predeceased her.
After graduating from St. Anthony’s High School in Wailuku in 1951, Isabel attended Marymount College in Salina, Kansas, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education in 1954 and she taught fourth grade at Lanai City Elementary in Maui County until 1956. Many years later one of those youngsters, now a businessman, told her that he always felt guilty that as kids they had been so rough and tough that it had driven her to the convent. Isabel put him at ease. She had long wanted to be a Sister and to bring the word of Christ to people of all nations.
Isabel entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation at Maryknoll, New York, on September 2, 1956. At Reception on June 24, 1957, she received the name Sister Corinne Marie. She made her first vows on June 24, 1959, at Maryknoll, New York, and her final vows on the same date in 1965, in Santiago, Chile. Shortly thereafter, coinciding with the end of the Second Vatican Council, she resumed the use of her baptismal name.
Immediately after first profession, in 1959, Isabel was assigned to teach at St. Anthony School in Bronx, New York. In 1963, she was assigned to Chile, serving as both teacher and pastoral minister in San Juan de Dios in Santiago until 1968. From 1969-1974, she was a Pastoral Minister in Parroquia La Asuncion in Talcahuano, Chile.
In 1975, she was asked to serve with Rosemary Healy on the West Coast Admissions Team until 1978. At the end of her time of service, she received this note of thanks from Sister Barbara Hendricks, then President of the Congregation:
“Because of Sisters like you, we feel new hope and new life stirring up. I hope that your heart has been strengthened by your time here at the Center. You certainly have strengthened the heart of the Community.”
Although Isabel had had a good experience, she felt psychologically unprepared to return to Chile especially under the Pinochet dictatorship. Having just spent Renewal time among her family and friends in Hawaii, she felt strongly drawn to return there for ministry. In her request to change Regions, she said, “I think that I can make some contribution and share my faith with God’s people in Hawaii because of the impact that the Chilean culture and church have had in my life.” Even though the Chile Region was reluctant to let her go, they acquiesced, knowing the blessing she would continue to be wherever she went.
Isabel was assigned to the Central Pacific Region in 1979 and in the same year began to minister to the Catholic Community in Kaunakakai, Molokai as a Pastoral Associate. She served in three different parishes, some of which are no longer functioning until 1990. We recall that when she asked to change Regions, Isabel had hoped she could make a contribution in Hawaii. Perhaps there is no better testimony of her having done so than this letter from a general Maryknoll sponsor:
“As a resident for five months per year on Molokai, HI, I have had the opportunity to observe the working of Christ in Sister Isabel Rabbon. Having traveled over a great part of the world for a number of years, I have seen Maryknoll in operation. I have been impressed. But nowhere so much as here. Sister Rabbon radiates goodness, holiness and love. Her work is outstanding and we all feel much better for her presence here.” Ed Koonmen
From a couple in Marriage Encounter, Isabel received this heartwarming note. “The community is totally enriched by your dynamism about teaching and doing God’s work and following Jesus Christ’s footsteps.”
During her years in Molokai, she also served on the Regional Governing Board from 1986-1989. She would serve again, beginning in 2001.
In 1991, she became a Pastoral Associate at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Lanai city, Lanai. It was a good fit for Isabel, as had been her previous ministry in Molokai. But one day in August 1994, she received a letter from Sister Jackie Dorr asking her to consider serving on the Admissions Team once again, this time at the Center with Sister Dora Nuetzi, from 1995 – 1999, and this was her answer:
“As soon as I received the request, the Holy Spirit within me leapt with excitement! It will be a blessing to do this ministry with Dora! Rosemary Healy told me she will be on the Rogers Coordinating Team with Sister Jeanne Rancourt from my entrance group. That place will be rocking! For myself, it will be a wonderful time to be with the large community at Maryknoll again.”
Upon completing this assignment, and after Renewal, Isabel returned to Oahu, to what the Sisters called, “active retirement.” Situated in Kailua, she did home and hospital visiting. She met with women’s groups for scripture, faith, and prayer sharing, and offered spiritual care as a volunteer at Kaneohe State Mental Hospital.
On December 1, 2022, Isabel was assigned to Eden from Central Pacific Region. During these past two years, her health declined. It hurt so much to walk, as her friends noticed when they picked her up for their get-together the day before her stroke. Yet, she was so animated on that beautiful afternoon and she marveled together with them that sixty-eight years had passed since she had taught them the basic steps to her graceful Hula dance. The memory raised a great deal of mirth among them because, although she was a good teacher they were hardly good learners. However, her presence with them on May 8, eleven days before her death has graced them with a lasting memory of her lovely Hula hands!
Today, we are happy to have with us our Maryknoll brother, Fr. David LaBuda, who will preside at this Liturgy of Christian Burial.