BLAUVELT, N.Y. — Sister Ursula Marie McGovern, a member of the Sisters of Saint Dominic for 71 years, entered eternal life on December 24, 2024. Sister Ursula was born in the Bronx, N.Y. to Edward and Agnes Egan McGovern on February 20, 1935. She entered the Sisters of Saint Dominic on February 2, 1953, from Holy Spirit Parish, Bronx, N.Y. and professed her first vows on August 25, 1953.
Sister Ursula was a devoted educator whose compassion, competencies, and caring spirit touched the lives of countless students, colleagues, and communities throughout her extraordinary life. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from Catholic Teachers’ College, Rhode Island, a Masters in Reading, from Manhattan College, Bronx, and later in her life, she completed an Masters in Early Childhood Education from the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, N.Y.
Her ministry as an educator spanned several decades, during which she dedicated herself to teaching and administrative leadership in schools across New York, Rhode Island and Jamaica, West Indies. From 1958 to 1971 she taught at St. Raymond School, Providence, and Immaculate Conception School, Amenia, N.Y. Sister Ursula was then asked to serve as teacher, and then principal in the congregation’s mission in Christiana, Jamaica, West Indies. This mission had a significant impact on Sister Ursula’s life shaping her life-long commitment to social justice, as well as human and social development. In 2000, she traveled to war-torn Iraq with the Dominican Order’s delegation Voices for Veritas, to document the impact that the US war with Iraq was having on Iraqi children. Sr. Ursula served as Preaching Promoter for the Blauvelt Dominicans from 1999—2005.
Returning to the United States, in 1978, Sister Ursula continued her teaching career at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School in the Bronx. Shortly after, she became principal of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Tappan N.Y. (1980 to 1986). Her next mission was to St. Dominic’s Family Services where she served as Education Coordinator for over a decade before becoming the Director of Early Childhood Education.
In 2008, Sister Ursula was accepted into the Ministry to Ministers Sabbatical Program at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, where she focused on theological updating and renewal. Her work and study in this field reflected her deep commitment to spiritual growth and integrative spirituality. In her later years, Sister Ursula ministered at Dominican University’s Learning Resource Center, where she was beloved by colleagues and students alike.
In addition to her religious family, Sister Ursula is survived by her beloved sister Cathleen Sheridan and her husband John, niece Kelly and husband Jim O’Neill and their children, Teagan and Patrick. Also, her nephew Robert, and nieces Stacey and Lauren. Sister Ursula was predeceased by her parents, Edward and Agnes McGovern and her brother, Edward T. McGovern.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Friday, January 3, 2025 at St. Dominic’s Covent, Blauvelt, N.Y.
