Nancy was a searcher her entire life. She kept seeking “The Way, The Truth, and The Life. --which is to say that the object of her search , in whatever form it took at different stages of her life was the God of the scriptures, the God of the Sacraments, the God of the Poor and Disenfranchised.

She loved the study of Latin and of Religion which led her to teaching in both grade school and high school. But more than the academic subjects, she loved her students and was committed to their education both in the classroom and beyond. Often she spoke of her dear friend Eileen Prendergast with whom she prepared and prepared many workshops and retreats for teenagers. The Exodus Retreats, represented a favorite movement with which she was affiliated. Her concept of education went far beyond classroom teaching. This was evident in much that I heard of her ministry in Toms River, NJ, too.

From an early age, Nancy was drawn to concern for the poor. She tells in her autobiographical notes that I was privileged to read of her early association with a retreat movement in Elkins Park, PA and of how at the age of l5, much influenced by her mother’s compassionate nature and her mother’s leadership positions in service and political organizations, -- at the age of 15, Nancy founded an organization at Elkins Park for washing, mending and distributing clothing at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in Easton, PA. She and her other young friends would often visit with the residents at the Catholic Worker, often with Dorothy Day herself. Social justice was important to her from her youth.

After a year of college at Glassboro State Teachers College, Nancy was drawn to enter the Dominican Sisters here in Newburgh. The influences of family life and her growing up in South Jersey remained significant in her growth. Who of us who knew her did not hear of her brother Jack? Jack was blind, and Nancy was able to be with him through several serious surgeries in attempts to restore some of his sight. Their relationship was a close one and undoubtedly a significant one in her later ministry choices.

After leaving classroom teaching, Nancy went into Pastoral Care. She went through the rigors of a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program at Cabrini Medical Center in NYC, after have completed the career options program at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. This all led to her pastoral care experience at Cabrini Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Even in her “retirement” at Mariandale Center in Ossining, she found a spot right next door in Ossining at “The Cambridge House,” a retirement center, to bring her compassion, her skills, and her sense of fun and adventure to the seniors there. Many a story we heard from her of her various expeditions with the people at “Cambridge House”.

Through all of her ministry experiences she searched for God, as, indeed, she brought the presence of God, to all she met. Having spent many summers of her childhood and youth at the Jersey Shore, through her life, the ocean remained for her a wonderful source of restoration and of peace. Her spirit was renewed there always; she spoke of it often and she sought opportunities to spend time at the shore for as long as she was able to.

Nancy leaves us a legacy of love of Life, love of song, love of dance, in fact, last Sunday, when we learned of her death, Virginia Hanrahan recalled to me how Nancy would show them the Philadelphia Mummers Dance in the Sowers Community Room-so now, Virginia said, Mary Mitchell, for whom Nancy had such deep respect and affection and who pre-deceased her is welcoming her into the Dance of Heaven. So the search is over -may she dance in Peace!

Sister Beth McCormick, OP
April 30, 2003

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