In Memoriam


(1928-2020)

As a member of a family where love flourished between mother and father, sister and brother, I developed a feeling of worth as an individual. Loving friendships with boys and girls, men and women in adolescence and adult life have helped me to realize the need to give of myself as well as receive the affection and attention of others. Beyond my need for people I have a great need for a loving relationship with my God.

These words, quoted by Sister Carleen Maly in her homily for Sister Sarah Cavanaugh, were written by Sister Sarah as part of a class assignment at Siena Heights College (University). “Sarah’s life from roots in her loving family extended to desire to share that love with many more as an Adrian Dominican,” Sister Carleen continued. “In her words, ‘I felt impelled to give my entire life to growth in love with Jesus Christ.’”

Sarah Ann Cavanaugh was born on August 24, 1928, in Detroit to Harry and Alice (McNamara) Cavanaugh. The second of Harry and Alice’s seven children – four boys and three girls, born over the course of nineteen years – she was baptized Sarah because she needed to have a saint’s name, but right from the start everyone called her Sally. Everyone, at least, until she entered the Congregation and, she said in her 2016 “A Sister’s Story” video, Mother Gerald disliked the name Sally.

Read more about Sister Sarah (pdf)

make a memorial gift

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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Cemetery of the Adrian Dominican Sisters

Our Adrian Dominican cemetery with its circular headstones is a beautiful place of rest for women who gave their lives in service to God — and a peaceful place for contemplation and remembrance. 


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