The Sullivan Sisters Fund

The Sullivan Sisters Fund is a donor-advised fund to benefit campus technology projects for teachers and students, set up by the Sullivan family in 2021.

Margaret, Marie, and Catherine Sullivan were born in Pittsburgh, PA, to Irish immigrants Daniel Joseph Sullivan and Bridget Connolly Sullivan. The twins Margaret and Marie were born on June 22, 1927, and Catherine was born on January 16, 1930. The sisters were raised in a loving and devout family with two brothers, Jeremiah B. Sullivan and Fr. Daniel Sullivan, CP. From an early age, the sisters developed a devotion to God and a commitment to serving God’s children.

Margaret and Marie attended St. Canice parochial school in the Knoxville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. They graduated from St. George High School in 1945. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament mission appealed to Margaret and Marie, but they always maintained that they independently decided to enter the convent. On September 8, 1946, Margaret and Marie entered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Cornwells Heights (now Bensalem), Pennsylvania. The following summer, they received the religious habit and their religious names. Marie would be Sr. Maria Gratia, and Margaret would be Sr. Daniel Joseph. On July 16, 1949, they professed their First Vows as Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The Sullivan Sisters took their Final Vows together on July 16, 1954, and began their mission assignments.

Towards the later years of service, Sisters Margaret and Mary were assigned to missions in the southwestern United States, serving the Pueblo of Laguna, St. Michael Indian School, and parishes in Shiprock and Pinon. Sisters Margaret and Mary returned to the Motherhouse in 2006 and remained there until their deaths: Marie on August 17, 2013, and Margaret on February 10, 2021.

Catherine Sullivan chose the nursing profession and became a licensed practical nurse. She attended nursing school at Roselia Foundling Home in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, an institution founded by the Sisters of Charity. She graduated in 1951 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, after working at Pittsburgh Hospital and St. Jude Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. Catherine practiced nursing there for forty years, starting at St. Ann’s Hospital, then Mary Mount Hospital, and finally Grace Hospital. There she worked until retirement in 1992. Catherine loved traveling in the Southwest and cherished her visit with her sisters, Margaret and Marie, in New Mexico and Arizona. Catherine passed away in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 7, 2020, at 90, with her sister, Margaret, by her side.

Margaret, Marie, and Catherine were loved and admired by their five nieces and nephews and twenty-three great-nieces and great-nephews. The Sullivan Sisters Fund is managed by the family of the sisters’ brother, Jeremiah B. Sullivan.

St Michael Indian School

St Michael Indian School