Sister Jean Fallon, MM

Born: May 7, 1930
Entered: September 6, 1947
Died: March 8, 2025

On March 8, 2025, Sister Jean Marie Fallon peacefully passed away at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York. Although Jean was 94 years old and becoming frailer, her death was a surprise to many of us since Jean had only been ill a short time. Her Community, her family, and all the people she touched over her long mission career, will remember her fondly. Jean will also be missed by the two birds in the cage outside the dining room, which she took care of and greeted so warmly each time she went to the dining room.

Sister Jean was born on May 7, 1930 in Seattle, Washington, to Leo Fallon and Bertha Hutchinson Fallon. She had two older brothers, Robert and William, who have predeceased her. Jean graduated from Holy Name Academy in Seattle in 1947 and shortly after that entered the Maryknoll Sisters on September 6, 1947. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1950 at the Center (Motherhouse) and made her Final Profession in Japan in 1953. She received the name Sister Therese Martin that she kept until the changes after Vatican II.

Jean was assigned to Japan in 1951, but before she sailed there, she attended the Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages to study Japanese. At that time, many of the Sisters worked in the pastoral ministry with the Maryknoll Fathers in the Kyoto Diocese, and Jean soon joined others in this work later in 1951. For the next 20 years, Jean moved from parish to parish – teaching catechumens, working with women, youth and children’s groups in the parish, and participating in various outreach and service organizations in the local area. She lived and worked in the following parishes from 1951-1971: Saiin, Otsu, Takano, Yokkaichi, and Tsu. Over the years, she continued her friendships with many people she had met in the parishes.

Then, while living in the Center House in Matsugasaki, Kyoto, Jean participated in Regional governance for a few years and attended various Congregational meetings. During the Regional gatherings, we could always depend on her to add to the fun during “simplicity nights”. At that time, she was also involved with the Better World Retreat movement, which fostered growth in Christians living in parish communities.

From 1974-1979, Jean devoted herself to World Awareness Education Programs in the northwest of the US. These programs were set up to help Catholics learn about and experience the situation of people with whom the Sisters lived and served. Then, returning to Japan in 1979, she began work with the National Catholic Council of Justice and Peace as part of the Peace Education Section and also worked on the Philippines Concerns Committee. Jean also cooperated with the National Christian Council’s (NCC) Peace and Nuclear Issues Committee.

She likewise helped with the Association of Major Superiors of Women’s Task Force for Action in Asia (TFA), in arranging for and cooperating with programs in Okinawa, the Philippines and parts of Japan. These programs were designed to enable participants to meet those experiencing social injustices and to learn first-hand, not only the real situation of those suffering injustices, but also the root causes of these injustices.

During these years, Jean collaborated with others in compiling three books about various topics of social concern. She likewise contributed articles about these topics to religious publications in Japan. Part of her ministry was accompanying visitors to Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the first atomic bombs were used, often meeting with elderly victims of these bombings.

Jean continued writing poetry, which especially featured meditations on nature and daily experiences. She often utilized the Japanese haiku style of poetry to express her thoughts. During this period, she resided in Kichijoji, a suburb of Tokyo, with other Sisters doing ministry in that area. In 1995, she took Scriptural, Ecumenical and Peace Studies at the Tantur Institute in Jerusalem, during her Renewal period.

In 2001, Jean began her work with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns as an Associate Representative of the Maryknoll Sisters NGO at the United Nations. As her term was ending in 2006, she inquired about joining the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) (now called Community Peacemaker Team). After intensive training, she was sent for monthly terms of service with their Team in Hebron, Palestine for the next several years.

Jean had been assigned to the Center Rogers Community in 2008. At the Center, Jean was active in the CenterCerns Committee, meeting monthly with the group, alerting Sisters via e-mail and other notices of social issues in the local area and wider world and indicating actions they could take. Jean herself attended protest rallies, gave talks at anti-nuclear events and participated in various related conferences.  With other Sisters, she cooperated with numerous organizations concerned with social issues: PAX CHRISTI Metro (NY); WESPAC Foundation in Westchester; ROAR (Religious Organization Along the River) concerned with the Hudson Valley bioregion; the Dominican Sisters Justice & Peace Promoters group; and BOMA (Briarcliff, Ossining Ministerial Association.)

A highlight of her long years of service was when Jean was designated as an “Ambassador of Peace” by Pax Christi USA. In celebration of Pax Christi’s 50th anniversary, their Council commissioned 20 Ambassadors of Peace at their National Conference in August 2022 in Washington, D.C. In their statement to the public they stated that “Ambassadors of Peace are extraordinary and experienced leaders with the Pax Christi USA community who serve as living embodiments of what it means to live a life rooted in the ‘peace of Christ’. They were chosen for contributions they have made in preaching, teaching and practicing gospel nonviolence peacemaking, anti-racism, reconciliation and justice.” Jean was recognized at a special event on August 7 in Washington.

We are celebrating a memorial Mass today as Jean has donated her body to science. We welcome our presider Maryknoll Father John McAuley.