Sister Carolyn Andrewes died on September 12 at Norwalk Hospital near Wilton following a short illness. She was 86 years old and a vowed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for 65 years. Sister Carolyn ministered as a teacher for 27 years, a librarian aide for 11 years, a certified nursing assistant for 11 years and provincial archivist for 13 years.
Carolyn Mary Andrewes was born on October 31, 1931 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the only child of Frank Andrewes and Mildred Burgoyne. Carolyn started school in Worcester, Massachusetts. Toward the end of first grade, she moved with her parents to Malden, Massachusetts where she was enrolled in Immaculate Conception School, taught by School Sisters of Notre Dame, to whom she enjoyed referring as the sisters who “had a very long name.”
Carolyn went to high school at Girls’ Catholic in Malden, where she was greatly influenced by Sister Almira Kelly. Her mother’s sister, Sister Respicia Burgoyne, was also an SSND, so it seemed natural to Carolyn to receive the bonnet at Immaculate Conception and thus enter the candidature in Baltimore. She was received into the novitiate on July 16, 1951, receiving the religious name Sister Carolyn. She was professed on August 2, 1952, and took final vows on the same date in 1958.
As a candidate, Sister Carolyn studied at the Notre Dame Teacher Training School, and taught first grade at St. Mary in Govans, Maryland. Other teaching assignments over the years included St. Theresa in Washington, D.C., Holy Angels Academy in Fort Lee, New Jersey; St. Mary in Bethel, Connecticut; Our Lady of Peace in Stratford, Connecticut; St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull, Connecticut and St. Patrick in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.
Sister Carolyn received a B.S. in Education at Seton Hall University in 1962, and a M. Ed. at Fairfield University in 1969.
In 1981, Sister Carolyn was assigned as library aide at Girls’ Catholic in Malden, her own alma mater. When Girls’ Catholic closed in 1992, Carolyn found a new position as a certified nursing assistant in the nursing home where her mother was a resident. Following the death of her mother, Sister Carolyn served an additional year and then continued as a certified nursing assistant at Villa Notre Dame in Wilton from 1996 to 2003.
In addition to her teaching and nursing positions, Sister Carolyn also contributed to the Wilton Province as a writer for several communications, including the Wilton Province Chapterscope, and the Wilton Assembly Newsletter and the Wilton Current.
Sister Carolyn wrote at her Golden Jubilee in 2002, “What is yet to come, who knows?” What was to come was the position of archivist for the Wilton Province, and then associate archivist in the Atlantic-Midwest Province, at which she was still working until shortly before her death. She was a member of the SSND North American Archivists’ workgroup for many years.
At Villa Notre Dame, Sister Carolyn was also a part of the partnership of C & C Painters. She and Carl Antignani were frequently seen painting bedrooms and other areas of the Villa, and enjoying their collaboration. Sister Carolyn valued her connection to Carl and his family during Thanksgiving celebrations, as well. Her quiet contributions to the daily life of the Villa also included the ringing of the Angelus bell and participation on the liturgy committee.
The funeral services for Sister Carolyn Andrewes were held in the chapel of Villa Notre Dame in Wilton. The Wake Service was on September 17, 2017, and the Mass of Christian Burial and the interment at St. Mary Cemetery, Bethel, Connecticut were on September 18. Sister Carolyn is survived by several cousins and their children.
Memorial contributions may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province, c/o Development Office, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton, Conn. 06897 or online: www.amssnd.org
