Dominican Sisters of Hope Dawn Redmond, OP (Sister John Damien) of the Dominican Sisters of Hope, died Friday September 15, 2016 in Wayne, New Jersey. She was 81 years old.
The daughter of the late John and Mary (Sheehan) Brennan, she was born October 10, 1934, in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Sister Dawn entered the novitiate of the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh, New York, in September 1955, made her First Profession in June 1957, and Final Profession in August 1960. She earned her BA in Elementary Education from Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY and her MS in Education and Reading from the College of New Rochelle, NY.
Sister Dawn’s early ministries were in elementary and secondary education. These included: Saint Patrick School in Woodbury NJ (1957-65), Saint Mary School in Paterson NJ (1965-68 and 1969-70), Saints John and Paul School in Larchmont NY (1968-69), Saint Lawrence School in Lindenwold NJ (1970-72), Our Lady of Lourdes School in Paterson NJ (1972-76 and 1977-80), Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pompton Plains NJ (1976-77), Saint Anthony School in Hawthorne NJ (1980-81), Pope Pius XII Regional High School in Passaic NJ (1981-83), and Straight and Narrow in Paterson NJ (1983-87). In 1987, Sister was appointed principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School in Paterson NJ, where she remained until 2000. She then returned to elementary education and taught at St. Therese School in Paterson NJ (2000-01) and St. George School in Paterson NJ (2001-02). Volunteering to teaching ELS classes to immigrants became a passion and real joy for Sister Dawn in the later years of her ministry. From 2002-2008, Sister Dawn has been involved with OASIS in Paterson NJ. She coordinated the school division and taught ESL classes. From 2008-2009, she did volunteer work as a teacher at San Miguel Academy of Newburgh. While Sister was living in Asbury Park, New Jersey from 2009 -2010 she was a volunteer and taught ESL classes to Haitian and Mexican students at Holy Spirit Church. Upon moving to Hawthorne, New Jersey, in 2010 Sister continued her volunteer ministry with ESL classes at Father English Community Center in Paterson, New Jersey.
All funeral services were held at Mount Saint Mary Dominican Center, Newburgh, New York, on Thursday, September 22, 2016. Sister was buried in the Dominican Sister’s Cemetery on the Mount Saint Mary grounds.
Donations in Sister Dawn’s memory can be made to the Dominican Sisters of Hope Development Office, 299 North Highland Avenue, Ossining, New York 10562-2327