Services for Sister Katherine Teresa Byrne, M.M. Missioner and Nurse

Sister Katherine Teresa Byrne, M.M. missioner and nurse died on June 28th, 2017 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. She was 88 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 64 years. She was born in Baton Rouge, LA on March 12, 1929 to Marie Fitzgerald and Philip J. Byrne, Jr. She had one brother, Philip J. and one sister, Maryellen. Both her parents and her brother have predeceased her.

Katherine grew up in Westfield, NJ where she attended Holy Trinity High School and graduated in 1946. She then attended the College of Mount St. Vincent, in New York City where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing in 1950. After college, Katherine worked as a nurse in New York Hospital for two years.
On September 2nd, 1952 she entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation from Holy Trinity Parish in Westfield, NJ. Sister Katherine made her First Profession of Vows on September 8, 1955 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and her Final Vows on September 8th, 1961 in Hong Kong.

In 1956, she received her first overseas assignment to Kandy, Ceylon where she studied Sinhalese. Sister Katherine was on mission in Ceylon for one year, when the Ceylon government canceled her visa. She was then assigned to Hong Kong where she taught at the Maryknoll Sisters Convent School while studying Cantonese part time for two years. From 1959-1968, she was in charge of the clinic in King’s Park, Kowloon. She then served as the Director of Nursing for the Maryknoll Hospital in Wong Tai Sin until 1971.

From 1971 – 1973, Sister Katherine studied Mental Health Nursing and Nursing Administration at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She then returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, where she served as Director of Health Services from 1973 –1976. In 1976, she was assigned to Hong Kong again where she served as Assistant Matron at Caritas Hospital until 1979. In 1980, Sister Katherine became a member of the Eastern U.S. Region and taught Nursing Education in institutions for physically handicapped children until 1983. In 1984, she moved to Israel where she taught nursing at Bethlehem University until 1985.

From 1985 – 1986, she served in Albuquerque, NM where she worked with SSED (Supportive Services for Elderly Disabled) and in an ecumenical retirement facility. She was then assigned to the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu from 1987-1991, where she coordinated “Project Respect”, a project focused on helping home bound elders, handicapped elders and the homeless. In 1993, she did pastoral care at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, CT until 1998 when she became coordinator at the Maryknoll Sisters Residence in Monrovia, CA.
Sister Katherine retired at Maryknoll Sisters Center in 2009. She requested she be cremated.

A Vespers service will be held in the Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY on Thursday, July 6, 2017 at 4:15PM.

A Memorial Mass will be held in the Annunciation Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, NY on Thursday, July 14, 2017 at 11:00AM. Arrangements handled by Dorsey Funeral Home,Inc