Sister Eileen Mary Clifford, CSJ, formerly Sister Saint Stanislaus, CSJ, passed away on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, while at St. Joseph Convent, Brentwood. She was a Sister of St. Joseph for 77 years.
The only child of Nicholas and Mary Brigid (Scanlon) Clifford, natives of Ireland, she grew up in St. Anthony’s Parish, Greenpoint, where her parents had settled and where she attended elementary school, followed by high school at St. Joseph’s Juniorate, a preparatory high school for girls contemplating religious life as a Sister of St. Joseph.
In 1948, she entered the community and two years later began her ministry in education, which lasted until 2015, ending a 65 year devotion. Her initial educational assignments included Visitation and Holy Family schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn, and St. Joachim School in Cedarhurst, after which she was prepared for her high school ministry, attaining degrees in history from St. John’s University and Catholic University of America, and was assigned to teach at the Academy of St. Joseph, Brentwood, and then at St. Angela Hall Academy, Brooklyn.
Her interior call to study theology was stirring within while she was assigned to St. Cyril and Methodius School in Deer Park for a year. Subsequently, she received her MA in theology at Fordham University and began teaching religious studies at St. Joseph High School, Brooklyn, followed by her 25-year ministry at Fontbonne Hall Academy.
Simultaneously, for seven years, she took care of her elderly mother. Her last assigned ministry at Bishop Kearney High School lasted for 15 years. She was very close to nature and the “great outdoors” of Brooklyn streets, walking miles every day to and from her ministry. The air she breathed and her cat, Angel, as well as her love of poetry, were endemic in her way of life and, as such, touched the lives of many in the classroom and community.
Her funeral was on March 24 at Sacred Heart Chapel, Brentwood, celebrated by Father Tom Poth, SMM. Burial followed in Calvary Cemetery, Brentwood.
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