Sister Margaret V. Hart, MM

Born: January 6, 1908
Entered: October 15, 1928
Died: October 30, 1997

Today’s Gospel reading from Saint John speaks of the time after Jesus’ death when he appeared to the apostles and greeted them saying: “Peace be with you. As God has sent me so I send you.” This reading was chosen for today’s liturgy because it exemplifies the life of our Sister Margaret Hart. In 1931, when Sister Margaret made her First Vows, she was described as a peaceful person and a peacemaker. Yesterday, sixty-six years later, when I asked several Sisters to share with me their memories of Sister Margaret, they too described her as a gentle, peaceful person. Sister Margaret took to heart Jesus’ words: “As God has sent me so I send you.” Sister Margaret spent sixty-nine years as a Maryknoll Sister — being a sign of peace and peacefulness — in Hawaii, in Tanzania and at the Center.

Our Sister Margaret Hart died as she had lived, peacefully and gently, on October 30, 1997 at 11:50 a.m. in the Residential Care Unit at Maryknoll, New York. She was surrounded by her Maryknoll Sisters and her beloved sister, Mary. Mary had been a frequent, faithful and dedicated visitor throughout the years and upon hearing of Sister Margaret’s declining health, came to spend the last week of Sister Margaret’s life on earth with her.

Margaret Veronica Hart was born January 6, 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children, to James and Margaret Harrison Hart. Sister Margaret received her elementary education in Most Precious Blood School, Philadelphia and St. Philomena’s, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. She later attended St. Philomena’s Commercial High School and after graduation, worked as a stenographer before entering Maryknoll on October 15, 1928 at the age of twenty. At Reception, she received the religious name of Sister Catherine Marie. She made her First Vows at Maryknoll on January 6, 1931 and received her mission assignment to Hawaii that same year where she made her Final Vows on January 6, 1934.

From 1931 to 1943, Sister Margaret taught in grade schools in Kalihi Kai on the island of Oahu and in Wailuku on the island of Maui. She also served as school secretary, bookkeeper and purchasing manager of school supplies from 1943 to 1960. It was while she was in the schools in Maui that Sister Margaret first met young students who later became Maryknoll Sisters. Sister Beatrice Carvalho remembers Sister Margaret as a teacher who was greatly loved by the children and who could always be seen surrounded by them. Sister Beatrice’s sister was in Sister Margaret’s fifth grade. She loved Sister so much that she faithfully corresponded with her for the past sixty years. Sister Margaret made a lasting impression on her students and many continued to correspond with their “favorite teacher” throughout the years.

Sister Isabel Rabbon remembers being in Sister Margaret’s Brownie Troop. Sister had each Brownie make a potholder to give to their mother on Mothers’ Day. Isabel was in Grade 2 and diligently worked on hemming her potholder. Upon tying the last knot in her special project, she was so happy and proud of it that she quickly ran to show it off to Sister and her friends. Her sorrow and disappointment were beyond words when she realized she had sewn the potholder to the skirt of her Brownie uniform! Equally beyond words, however, were Sister Margaret’s compassion, understanding and kindness. Sister Margaret lovingly cut the potholder off Isabel’s uniform and comforted her. At the next meeting, Isabel found her potholder resewn by Sister Margaret and Isabel had a potholder to give her mother on Mother’s Day! Sister Margaret’s loving compassion and kindness inspired Isabel to be a Girl Scout Leader many years later.

In 1960, after twenty-nine years in Hawaii, Sister returned to the Center and spent the next five years working in the Mission Education Office. She also served as Assistant Superior from 1963 – 1965. In 1965, she was assigned to Tanzania, East Africa, where she worked as secretary to Bishop McGurkin in Shinyanga until 1968 when she returned to the States to help her sister, Mary, care for their ailing mother. Sister Margaret had a deep love for her mother. In a letter to Mother Mary Colman she wrote: “All in our family have gotten this faith and trust in God’s will from our mother who certainly has come through many trials and when we go off that track our conscience bothers us.”

After her mother’s death in December 1968, Sister Margaret returned to the Center and worked in the Direct Mail Office until 1976 when her secretarial skills were again called upon in the Physical Plant Office. Upon retirement in 1984, Sister Josephine Kollmer, in the name of the Central Governing Board, wrote: “Many said how cheerful and helpful you have been to them. It is not an easy task responding so graciously when people are anxious for rushed repairs and so many other personal services.” Sister Margaret replied to Sister Josephine’s letter saying: “When I saw the Central Governing Board envelope, I thought an assignment? O Lord not yet.” After reading the letter, however, she wrote that she had only done what was to be expected of her because the motto of her canonical year group was “Generosity and Cooperation.” Sister Margaret certainly lived this motto throughout her entire life.

After retirement, Sister Margaret continued to offer her skills in the Residential Care Unit until 1988 when she, herself, became ill and had to be cared for in that same unit where she had worked.

We welcome and extend our deepest sympathy to Sister Margaret’s family and friends. We also wish to welcome our brother, Father Michael Duggan, who will celebrate this Eucharist of the Resurrection for our Sister Margaret.