Sister Genevieve Kenney, SSMN
Teacher and Religious Education Director
Sister Genevieve Kenney, S.S.M.N., born Margaret M. Kenney in Lowell, Massachusetts, died Friday, November 14, 2008 in the Marycrest Residence of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur. She was 86 years old.
Sr. Genevieve began her career as a teacher and worked in a number of schools: St. John the Baptist and Mt. St. Mary Grammar School in Kenmore, Our Lady of Lourdes and Holy Spirit in Buffalo, St. Patrick in Lockport, and St. Mary in Binghamton. It was in Binghamton that Sister moved from school teaching to what was then called the CCD program, working with children whose religious education had to be accomplished outside of the regular classroom. She was the Director of Religious Education in a number of parishes in Binghamton, Buffalo, Pendleton, Kenmore, South Carolina, and even her hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts.
It was in Syracuse that Sister had the biggest impact on Catholic religious education when she got the ball rolling for increased lay participation in the field in 1966. She was the first regional director of religious education and wondered if lay people might be interested in a training program. The response to that wonder was amazing. Many people in that diocese have now completed a master’s program in religious education. Bishop O’Keefe said to his teachers, “You enable me to fill one of my primary roles as a bishop – the role of teacher.”
With all of her accomplishments, Sr. Genevieve is remembered more for what she was than for what she achieved. Her primary gift was gentleness and she was an outstanding peacemaker. Unassertive as she was, she did not hesitate to step into any situation of conflict, reminding all that “We are here for Jesus.” In her quiet, simple way she placed herself beside Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
What gave her joy was music. At one time in her life, she took music lessons, and song was a gift she offered every ministry, whether it was directing a children’s choir or singing herself. In her later years she still sand wherever she was – in her room, in a car, with the other sisters.
She was the daughter of the late Hazel and Leo Kenney, and sister of the late Raymond Kenney, John Kenney, Patricia Conley, and Constance Dempsey. She is survived by two sisters, Ann (Ted) Decker of Lowell, Massachusetts and Mary Hutton of Lawrence, Massachusetts; many nieces and nephews; and her sisters in the community of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur.
Friends may call from 2-5 PM on Sunday only at St. Mary Center, 241 Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo, where vigil prayers will be said at 4:30 PM on Sunday, followed by a Mass at 7 PM at St. Mary Center Chapel. Friends invited. Interment at the Sisters’ Plot at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Town of Tonawanda. Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Mass on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 10 AM at the Holy Family Parish Center Chapel, 122 Andrews Street, Lowell, Massacusetts (the former Sacred Heart School, corner of Moore St. & Andrews St., Lowell). Contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Mary Memorial Fund in Sister Genevieve’s memory. Further information about memorial contributions may be found at the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur website, www.ssmn.us. Arrangements entrusted to the care of the Hamp Funeral Home, Inc., Tonawanda, New York.
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