Sister M. Laurentina Heaney, MM

Born: November 19, 1897
Entered: October 15, 1925
Died: October 8, 1996

In today’s Scripture reading from St. Paul, we hear the words, “You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be to the glory of God.” Through Sister Laurentia’s life and witness, grace has surely been multiplied among us and the people she served. So today, we gather to celebrate her life and to give thanks to God for her many years in Maryknoll and in mission. Sister had the honor of being the senior, age wise, of our Maryknoll Community. Her desire was to be the first Maryknoll Sister to reach 100, but God saw fit to call her rather to the beginning of her eternal life.

On October 8th, 1996 at 7:10 in the morning, Sister Laurentia Heaney died peacefully in our Residential Care Facility just a month before her 99th birthday. She had been admitted to Residential Care after two years in Assisted Living. Through health issues, her indomitable spirit pulled her through the natural healing process. God called her the day after the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, to whom she had such great devotion.

Alice Elizabeth Heaney was born on November 19, 1897, the sixth of nine children of Irish parents Hugh Heaney and Elizabeth McGinnis in Brooklyn, New York. She had three brothers and five sisters, including Margaret (our Sister Dolorita, no deceased) and Ellen (our Sister Bernardine, is living at our Retirement House in Monrovia). Alice attended St. John Evangelist Grade School in Brooklyn and had two years of high school. Her sisters, Margaret and Ellen, entered Maryknoll in 1922, taking the names Sister Dolorita and Sister Bernardine. Alice, desired to enter, but her mother did not give immediate permission, preferring rather to wait and see how the other two daughters fared. Alice bided her time helping her mother at home, working as a saleslady in the Pattern Department of Macy’s Department store, and being an active member of her parish Blessed Virgin Sodality and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus.

Alice was finally able to enter Maryknoll in 1925, and made her First Vows on April 30, 1928, taking the name Sister Mary Laurentia. After helping out at our Bethany Guest Sister House, she was assigned in 1929 to Los Altos, California where she worked in the Maryknoll Fathers Junior Seminary kitchen. She was transferred to our Maryknoll House in Seattle, Washington in 1931, to do domestic work and made her Final Vows there on April 30 that same year. In 1932, she was assigned to the Children’s Home on the Island of Maui in Hawaii where she spent the next five years working with children and doing the sewing. As one Sister put it, “she left her mark on all the children in that orphanage”.-

She returned to the Center in 1937 and worked first in the Seminary kitchen until 1954, then in the Motherhouse sewing room and later in the Maryknoll Sisters Sponsor Department. In 1965, she was assigned to the Maryknoll Fathers Sponsor Department for three years and lived at St. Teresa’s. It was about this time, around the age of 70, that she taught herself typing! She must have learned well for in 1968, she was assigned to the Center to do clerical work at the Associate Desk in Direct Mail and would let nothing go out unless it was perfect. Sister Laurentia remained in Direct Mail until 1980, and after a short time in Monrovia retired in 1983 at the age of 86!

All this is the factual part of Sister’s life, but how does one capture the essence, the real life, of this wonderfully unique Maryknoll Sister? In 1995, when Sister Laurentia celebrated her 70th Anniversary in Maryknoll, one of the gifts was a booklet in which many Sisters had written their memories of Sister through the years of her “joy, sparkle, simplicity, gracious hospitality, spunk, unbeatable spirit, interest in everyone and everything, enjoyment of life, marvelous memory, being forever young and funny, a joy in community…” and on and on. What came through was the deep appreciation of and gratitude for Sister Laurentia through the years.

Indeed, Sister Laurentia and her delightful sense of humor will be greatly missed, but we know that her sparkle is even greater as she enjoys eternal joy, peace, and happiness with her Lord and Creator, to whom her whole life was dedicated.

We welcome the family and friends of Sister Laurentia. We extend our sincere sympathy to all of you.

We also welcome our Maryknoll Father Edward Manning who will preside at this Liturgy of Resurrection and Maryknoll Father Edwin McDevitt who will give the homily.