Sister Mary Redempta Coffey, MM

Born: September 8, 1902
Entered: February 2, 1922
Died: February 16, 1976

On February 16, 1976 at 6:20 in the evening, Sister Mary Redempta Coffey passed into eternal life. She had been admitted into Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City on Wednesday evening, February 11th.

Mary E. Coffey was born in Glens Falls, New York September 8, 1902. She was educated in St. Mary’s elementary and high schools of Glens Falls. She entered Maryknoll on February 2, 1922 and made final profession of vows on April 19, 1927. She studied at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., and after obtaining her R.N. was assigned to the Philippines as Superintendent of Nurses at St. Paul’s Hospital, Intramuros, Manila. She served at St. Paul’s from 1929 when she arrived in the Philippines until 1941 when World War II intervened, and she, along with about 50 other Maryknoll Sisters, was interned at Los Banos. Sister Redempta ministered to the sick during the war, and after her release from Los Banos, re-opened St. Mary’s Hall, dormitory for U.P. students. Sister Redempta was superior at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Manapla, Negros Occidental from 1951 to 1957, and also at Bethany from 1961 to 1967. Sister acted as school nurse for Malabon, Dulawan, Cotabato, and most recently, for the Child Study Center at Maryknoll College, Quezon City.

Here indeed was one of the great women of Maryknoll. Hers was the spirit and heart, broad and deep, that built and nurtured our community through the years since its founding and down to the present time. We will miss her presence among us and her strong support, but we rejoice that she is with the Lord whom she loved dearly and served in single-hearted faithfulness all her life.

“Who shall find a valiant woman –
Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.”