Sister Eugenie Therese Courtright, Maryknoll Sister for 77 Years

Sister Eugenie Therese Courtright, Maryknoll Missionary Sister, died on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Ossining, NY. Sr. Eugenie Therese was 98 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 77 years.

Barbara Mary Courtright was born in Mt. Pleasant, MI, December 21, 1917, the daughter of Eugenie Senecal and Albert George Courtright.

She had one brother, George Courtright who has pre-deceased her.

After graduating from St. Benedict’s Academy in 1935, she attended Maryhurst College for two year and on December 8, 1938; Barbara entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation from Sacred Heart Parish, Grand Rapid, MI. At Reception, she was given the religious name, Sister Eugenie Therese, a name she retained throughout her life. She made her First Vows on June 30, 1941 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. In 1943, she was assigned to Hawaii where she made her Final Vows on June 30, 1944, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sister completed the work for her Bachelor of Education degree at Maryknoll Teacher College in 1943 and her Masters in Communication at the University of Hawaii in 1968.

Sister worked as a teacher, in several grade schools staffed by the Maryknoll Sisters in Hawaii: at Maryknoll Grade School in the Punahou district of Honolulu, in St. Ann’s School in Kaneohe and St. Augustine School in Waikiki, and in Maryknoll High School in Honolulu. Sister was an accomplished pianist and organist and she gave her services generously to the students, the Maryknoll Convents and the parishes where she lived and worked.

After 43 years of service in Hawaii, at the age of 69, in 1987, she returned to the United States mainland where she responded to an offer to work as a part-time teacher in Assumption School in Jacksonville, FL. She joined the Maryknoll Sisters Eastern US Region until 1994 when she retired at Monrovia, California, the Maryknoll Sisters retirement house.

In 2004, Sister returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York where she died and typical of her generous spirit throughout all her years of service, she donated her body to science.

A vespers service will be held for Sister Eugenie on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 at 4:15 p.m. in the Main Chapel at Maryknoll Sisters Center. A Memorial Mass will follow on Wednesday, September 28 at 11:00 a.m. also in the Main Chapel at the Center. Dorsey Funeral Home, Inc. in Ossining.