Remembering Sr. Rosemary Gaffney, DW
Sr. Rosemary Helen Gaffney- Sr. Rosemary of Jesus
June 12, 1926 – September 30, 2022
76 Years Professed-February 2, 1946
Sr. Rosemary Gaffney, one of nine children, was born to James and Lillian Gaffney in Ozone Park, New York. James and Lillian were deaf, and one of their daughters was born deaf. Each member of the family was fluent in sign language. This loving family, for which Rosemary was so grateful, gave to the Montfort family 2 Daughters of Wisdom and a Montfort Father. Sr. Rosemary grew up in St. Mary Gate of Heaven Parish, Ozone Park, NY, and attended the parish school and, later, Our Lady of Wisdom Academy High School. Throughout her early years, she was immersed in Montfortian spirituality through the preaching and teaching of the Montfort Fathers and the Daughters of Wisdom.
Two weeks after her profession in Eastview, Ontario, Canada, without knowing any Spanish, she was sent as a missionary to Bogota, Colombia. There she served as a teacher and then as principal of the Daughters of Wisdom's school, Instituto de Nuestra Senora de la Sabiduria for deaf and blind girls. Over the course of her ministries, Sister became multilingual and served as a translator of French-English, Spanish-English, and French-Spanish for the Daughters of Wisdom Generalate. She and her brother, Father Patrick Gaffney, SMM, collaborated on the translation and publication of Father de Montfort's 164 Hymns: God Alone II. Sister Rosemary said her love for languages and poetry came from her gifted mother. These gifts she shared freely.
Returning to the states, she taught at St. Mary's Academy in Norfolk, Virginia, for about ten years before returning to Instituto de Nuestra Senora de la Sabiduria in Columbia, where she served as an educator and principal until 1970. While in Colombia, she served as an English-Spanish translator on HOPE SHIP USA in Cartegena and prepared members of the Peace Corps to work in Colombian schools for the deaf. She helped to found schools in Bucaramanga and Florencia and collaborated with the Ministry of Education in Bogota to start a University program to prepare teachers for the deaf. Sister also shared her expertise in Peru when she was invited to give conferences on deaf education at the Catholic University.
Sister earned her doctorate in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She was a lecturer at Brooklyn College and a professor in the Hunter College, New York graduate program, where she was the director of the deaf- education program for over twenty years. During this time, Sister visited every school for the deaf in the United States. While at Hunter College, she was named "Teacher of the Year."
In her Queens community, where she resided for over twenty-five years, before retiring in 2014 to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent in Sound Beach, NY, Sister served as a lector and worked with deaf and Spanish parishioners. She also tutored neighbors, preparing a deaf child and children of Mexican and Chinese immigrants to receive the sacraments. It was said that whenever Sister saw a child with a disability in need, she was there to help.
Predeceased by her immediate family and niece Eleanor Hayes Lezesque, Sister leaves behind many loving friends and family. They include Nephew Tom Hayes (Marjorie) and children Hillary, Thomas, and Sean; Niece Mary Ellen Kenny (Brian) and children Mark, Paul, and Claire; Nephew Jim Gaffney and children Ryan and Bethany; Niece Eleanor Rosenfeld (Bill) and children David and Ian; Niece Kathleen Zavoluk (Bill) and children Kevin, Eileen and Brian; Nephew Joe Feely (Catherine); and niece Mary Grace Gallagher (Scott) and children Annie and Kate (Alex).
Sister Rosemary will be deeply missed by the congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom and will be remembered for her listening heart, compassion for those with disabilities, especially the hearing impaired, and love of the poor. She will also be remembered for exemplifying her life to Montfort's call, "I must love God hidden in my neighbor."
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