Sister Kathleen Kelly, SSND
June 28, 1932 – October 17, 2024
Kathleen Marcella Kelly entered earthly life on June 28, 1932. She was the fifth child of John W. Kelly and Elizabeth O’Toole Kelly. Two more children would follow and complete the family. All totaled, these seven siblings would impact family, friends, and extended community well beyond Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where their family home on Beechwood Boulevard was the locale for many of their special memories.
Kathleen was taught by School Sisters of Notre Dame in St. Philomena’s School, Squirrel Hill, where, as she states in her autobiography, “While in the sixth grade, I had a desire to become a Nun, something that was in my heart since I was small.” The desire to become a School Sister of Notre Dame was nurtured at the Academy of the Holy Angels in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where Kathleen entered the Aspiranture/Juniorate and “spent,” as she said, “four of the happiest years of my life.”
Kathleen formally entered SSND in 1950 and was sent, as a candidate, to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Camden, New Jersey to teach grades four and six. During those years, Kathleen’s brother John was “elevated to the dignity of the Priesthood in the Redemptorist Order.”
Kathleen was professed as Sister Perpetua Marie on July 24, 1953, and began educational ministry at St. Ann’s in Baltimore. During her 13 years there, she taught grades 1, 2, 3 and 6 and took her final vows on July 24, 1959.
Sister Kathleen’s own education included acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now Notre Dame of Maryland University). Later, she obtained a Master of Arts in Theology/ Scripture from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal School and parish, in Riviera Beach, Maryland, followed as Sister Kathleen’s ministry location for 22 years, first teaching grades 3 and 4, then becoming the CCD Coordinator/Director of Religious Education in the parish.
The Baltimore Catholic Review article written on April 27, 1988, by Gerard A. Perseghin, captured much of Sister Kathleen’s spirit and dedication to St. Jane Frances. At the end of her assignment there, she was honored with a farewell tribute of Mass, reception, and dinner. While at St. Jane Frances parish, Sister Kathleen orchestrated the DRE program, the RCIA program and the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society. Parishioner Audrey Smith noted that Sister Kathleen "was a member of the nomination committee on the parish council because, "she knows more people than anybody else." She was spoken of as "an outgoing person, a people person, who loves celebrating.”
The statistics in the article summarize Sister Kathleen’s impact on this singular school/parish over the years: she had approximately 20,000 students in her classes, worked with 72 teachers and with about 15 adult converts and 20 child converts each year. In S. Kathleen’s own words about her experiences at Riviera Beach: “So many beautiful things have happened with the grace of God to bring people to know, love and serve God.”
For the next 15 years, S. Kathleen ministered closer to her home in Pittsburgh as DRE Coordinator/Director at St. Scholastica Parish in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania.
In 2008, S. Kathleen initially “retired” to her family home on Beechwood Boulevard where she cared for her siblings, S. Ursula, and S. Elizabeth Marie, also members of SSND. Their home was named Villa Regina Community, partly to honor their eldest unmarried sister Regina, but also to give tribute to Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, to whom the entire family had great devotion. S. Kathleen herself mentioned her own devotion to Mary in her autobiography: “Mary has strengthened my vocation through numerous graces she has given me.”
Since 2018, S. Kathleen resided at Villa Assumpta and Rosary community in Baltimore, MD. During that time, she celebrated her Gold/Ruby Jubilee (70 Years) as a School Sister of Notre Dame.
Whenever she shared a meal at table with other Sisters, she relished their camaraderie and sense of humor. She herself had a great wit and helped others feel at ease. When anyone visited her to catch up on her recent doings, the conversation would take a turn around with her question: “What’s new in your world?”
Kathleen was an avid newspaper reader, keeping up with local and world news, until her eyesight began to fail in months closer to her death. While living in Rosary community, she enjoyed reminiscing through family photo albums. She was quite proud of her heritage and family members. Besides the previous mentioned siblings (Regina, Fr. John, S. Ursula—formerly named S. Mary Redemptina, and S. Elizabeth Marie—Jacqueline at birth), she had many stories to tell about her brothers Martin and Gerard. Her siblings entrusted her to be the executor of their wills; little did they know she would be the last surviving sibling.
S. Kathleen lived to be 92. She is survived by a niece, Carol Ann Kelly Sheppard (daughter of Martin) and many cousins, several of whom were able to attend S. Kathleen’s wake and funeral.
The wake for S. Kathleen was held at John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc., on Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh. The Freyvogels were long-time friends of the Kelly’s and could recount several of their own stories of the Kelly clan, since the “sons” were children when they first encountered the Kelly’s. Subsequently, all three SSND Kelly sisters, and other family members, were waked at Freyvogel’s and all three SSND Sisters had the Mass of Christian Burial at St. Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA. For each of these Masses (in 2017, 2021, and 2024), the Very Reverend Kris Stubna, rector of the Cathedral, presided at the liturgy.
Sister Kathleen’s funeral Mass occurred October 24, 2024—the Foundation Day of the SSNDs. It was also the 118th anniversary of the dedication of St. Paul Cathedral. Both the remembrance of the SSND Kelly sisters on Foundation Day, and the Cathedral anniversary of dedication, were highlighted in a special way by Fr. Kris. Deacon Michael Kelly, a Kelly family cousin, also assisted at the liturgy and led the committal prayers at Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, following the liturgy.
Sister Mary Roy Weiss represented the SSNDs at the 2-day wake, the funeral Mass, and the interment. She carried the prayers and condolences of Provincial leader Sister Charmaine Krohe, SSND, who also knew S. Kathleen and her family from her own family life in Pittsburgh, and the Sisters who lived with S. Kathleen at Villa Assumpta and Rosary community in Baltimore. (A Memorial Mass for S. Kathleen was held at the Chapel of Villa Assumpta on November 5, 2024.)
S. Mary Roy stated, “It was a privilege to know S. Kathleen Kelly and to have the opportunity to take her to her homestead for a brief last visit in November 2022, when she brought me to the family burial monument wherein lie her deceased parents, her brother Gerard, and her SSND sister-siblings.” Now, S. Kathleen rests with them. Her priest brother John is in another dedicated section of the same cemetery along with his Redemptorist priests and brothers who served in the Pittsburgh area. Her sister Regina is in the mausoleum at Calvary where the committal service was held.
Near the top of their monument is the figure of the Infant Jesus. The engraved quote at the top of the monument says: “The more you honor Me, the more I will bless you.” The pin/seal of SSND is on one side of the monument and the U. S. Government seal is on the other, since Gerard was a member of the CIA. Truly, the Kelly family honored God and, in turn, was blessed by God in many ways. May the memory of them be a blessing to all of us.
~ Sister Mary Roy Weiss, SSND
