Sister Dorothy Mary Leising, SSND
February 29, 1924 - September 17, 2025
“I love you. I Love you.” These were Dorothy’s last words to her sisters, Blanche and Florence. That was also the theme of her life. Dorothy Mary, affectionately known as “Dottie”, was born in Buffalo, New York on February 29, 1924. Although Dottie lived 101 years, she enjoyed telling everyone that she was only 25 because of her Leap Year birthday!!
Her parents, Mary Smith and George Leising, created a loving home for nine children. Dottie was baptized on March 9th at St. Mary Church in Swormsville, New York. She attended St. Mary’s School, where the Franciscan Sisters were her teachers. First Communion and Confirmation were also celebrated at St. Mary’s.
Mary and George instilled a deep faith in their children. Two sons, William and Edmund, were ordained as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) priests and their daughters Dorothy, Blanche, and Florence became School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND). Hubert, Rose, Alphonsus, and Gerard continued to inspire the Leising values in the next generation. A nephew, Robert Leising, joined his uncles in the O.M.I community.
Dottie’s generous heart manifested itself when she left school for two and a half years to help run the household while her mother was ill. In 1941, she attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary boarding school in Sag Harbor, NY, to complete her high school years. Certainly, this was only the first of many distant travels for Dottie. After graduation, she worked as a file clerk and receptionist at St. Peter Hospital. Because she had no business training, Dottie’s parents suggested she attend St. Mary Business School. It was there that she met the SSNDs. In her words, “I felt drawn to them in a special way. Their whole-hearted, self-sacrificing lives radiated through every day.” Thus, the bud of a call to religious life blossomed into a conviction.
On August 27, 1947, Dottie received the candidate’s bonnet at St. Mary Convent. The two years of preparation for the novitiate were spent at teacher training school and then as first-grade teacher at Sacred Heart. Upon reception into the novitiate, Dottie received the name Sister Marie Concepta. After her first Profession of Vows, Dottie began a fulfilling teaching career. In later years, Dottie regaled family, sisters, and friends with stories of the little ones she taught. Students at Mount Calvary, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Margaret Mary, St. Aloysius, St Boniface, and St. Vincent Orphanage benefited from her creativity and kindness. During those years, Dottie achieved her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Villanova and Seton Hall Universities.
The highlight of her ministerial years was the twenty-five years at Holy Apostles Parish in Rochester, NY. Daily, she visited the sick, assisted the dying, planned funerals with families and did fundraising, and delivered food to the needy. Her fundraising skills were so well known that today, “The Sister Dorothy Walk for Holy Apostles” continues. During those years, Dottie and Blanche formed community with other religious women at St. Bernard Apartments.
When the time came to “retire” and move to Villa Notre Dame in Wilton, Dorothy and her sisters, Blanche and Florence, drew many shoppers to their creations in the gift shop. Each day, the three sisters gathered to pray the rosary. When they chose to join the first group of SSNDs at Ozanam Hall in Bayside, NY, the Leisings continued daily prayer together.
Dottie peacefully entered eternal life on September 17, 2025. The next week, her long-time friend and pastor of Holy Apostles, Fr. Tony Mugavero, traveled to celebrate her two Masses of Resurrection, one at Ozanam and one St. Andrew, Bridgeport, Connecticut. At Ozanam, Dottie’s nephew John Leising proclaimed the first reading, Sister Mary Fitzgerald read from You Are Sent, and Sister Mary Roy captured Dottie’s spirit in the eulogy. Sister Evelyn Breslin led the wake service at St. Andrew, and Sisters Peg Regan and Ginny Muller proclaimed readings at the Mass at which Carolyn Stoe invoked the Intercessions. Sister Dorothy Mary was buried with our SSND Sisters at St. Mary Cemetery, Bethel, CT. May Dottie’s boundless love and energy permeate our SSND life.
By Cathy Feeney, SSND
