Sister Margaret O'Neill celebrates 70 years as a CSJP

Sister Margaret O'Neill (center) with her former student, Sr. Aileen Trainor, CSJP (left) and Susan Fox, CSJP-A, Executive Director of Jubilee Women's Center.

Sister Margaret at the Jubilee celebration, June 9th, 2007

Sister Margaret Rose O’Neill was born in Ontario, and met the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace when her family moved to Fernie, B.C.  She was only 16 when she entered the novitiate in Bellingham in 1937 and was named Sister Theresa Rose.  Like many Sisters in those days, she studied while she taught, earning a B.A. from Western Washington University, an M. Ed. from Seattle University, and, eventually, a Ph.D. from Fordham University.

Sister Margaret taught in St. Therese and St. Margaret, Seattle; Bellevue, Longview, Mt. Vernon, and Wenatchee, WA; in Ketchikan, AK; Nelson, B.C.; Van Nuys, CA; and Corvallis, OR. Later, she taught at Notre Dame University of Nelson, B.C., Brooklyn College, and St. Thomas University, New Brunswick.

Sister Margaret’s life took a different turn in the 1980s, when work at Sacred Heart Shelter led her to join CSJPs Joan Leonard and Ann Wetherilt in founding Jubilee Women’s Center (1983), a transitional housing program for homeless women.  After launching Jubilee, Sister Margaret researched and wrote The Life of Mother Clare, a biography of the founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.  She lives at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, Bellevue.  Sister Margaret says, “Seventy years in the wonderful Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace is a time of great joy, with gratitude to our loving God and to those along the way who helped me in my journey.”

Sr. Margaret with friends at the reception.

Sr. Margaret with Dermot Randles, a friend from Ireland and Fr. Peter Ely, SJ after the Jubilee Mass. Fr. Peter was a student of Sr. Margaret's at St. Margaret School, Seattle.