An Invitation to Support St. Michael Indian School

The Sullivan Sisters Fund is a donor-advised fund to benefit campus technology projects for teachers and students set up by the Sullivan family in 2021.  

FAMILY HISTORY 

Margaret, Marie, and Catherine Sullivan were born in Pittsburgh, PA, to Irish immigrants Daniel Joseph Sullivan and Bridget Connolly Sullivan. The twins Margaret and Marie were born on June 22, 1927, and Catherine was born on January 16, 1930. The sisters were raised in a loving and devout family with two brothers, Jeremiah B. Sullivan and Fr. Daniel Sullivan, CP. From an early age, the sisters developed a devotion to God and a commitment to serving God’s children.

Margaret and Marie attended St. Canice parochial school in the Knoxville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. They graduated from St. George High School in 1945. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament mission appealed to Margaret and Marie, but they always maintained that they independently reached their own decision to enter the convent. On September 8, 1946, Margaret and Marie entered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Cornwells Heights (now Bensalem), Pennsylvania. The following summer, they received the religious habit and their names in religion. Marie would be Sr. Maria Gratia, and Margaret would be Sr. Daniel Joseph. On July 16, 1949, they professed their First Vows as Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The Sullivan Sisters took their Final Vows together on July 16, 1954, and began their mission assignments. 

Sisters Margaret and Mary (Marie) served numerous mission assignments across the United States for over fifty years. Sr. Margaret had teaching assignments in New Orleans, Louisiana; Harlem in New York City; Gary, Indiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. She also served as the Principal of Holy Providence School on the Motherhouse grounds. Sr. Mary (Marie) Sullivan had mission assignments in Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Missouri. She served as the Superior at the St. Ann Convent in Cincinnati, OH, and Holy Redeemer in Washington, DC. She also served as the Principal at St. Peter Claver in Macon, GA, and St. Charles in New York City. 

Sister Margaret Sullivan earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Villanova University in 1957 and a Master of Arts in Education from Villanova in 1972. Sister Mary Sullivan earned a Bachelor of Science in Education at Villanova University in 1957 and a Master of Science in Education at St. John College of Cleveland in 1969.

 Towards the later years of service, Sisters Margaret and Mary were assigned to missions in the southwestern United States. In 1990, they were assigned to the same mission for the first time, teaching religious education at the Pueblo of Laguna in Old Laguna, New Mexico. In 1995 the Sisters were sent to the St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. However, in 1996, Sister Mary was assigned to perform parish ministry at St. Mary of the Rosary in Pinon, AZ. Then, in 1998, she served at St. Michael Indian School in St. Michaels, AZ. The sisters worked together again at the Navajo parish of Christ the King in Shiprock, NM, from 1999-2005.

 Sisters Margaret and Mary returned to the Motherhouse in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, in 2006 and remained there until their deaths: Marie on August 17, 2013, and Margaret on February 10, 2021. 

Catherine Sullivan chose the nursing profession and became a licensed practical nurse. She attended nursing school at Roselia Foundling Home in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, an institution founded by the Sisters of Charity. She graduated in 1951 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, after working at Pittsburgh Hospital and St. Jude Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. Catherine practiced nursing there for forty years, starting at St. Ann’s Hospital, then Mary Mount Hospital, and finally Grace Hospital. There she worked until retirement in 1992. Catherine loved traveling in the Southwest and cherished her visit with her sisters, Margaret and Marie, in New Mexico and Arizona. Catherine passed away in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 7, 2020, at 90, with her sister, Margaret, by her side.

Margaret, Marie, and Catherine were loved and admired by their five nieces and nephews and twenty-three great-nieces and great-nephews. The Sullivan Sisters Fund is managed by the family of the sisters’ brother, Jeremiah B. Sullivan.