Sister Mary Agnes O’Neil, Daughter of Charity died peacefully at St. Louise House in Albany, New York on December 8, 2024. She was born September 12, 1926, in Bridgeport, Connecticut to John and Mary (Donohue) O’Neil. She graduated from Central High School in 1944, and St. Vincent’s School of Nursing in 1947. She was a proud Veteran of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, serving as a Cadet Nurse from 1944-47. Sister entered the Daughters of Charity in 1949 from St. Ann’s Infant Home in Washington, D.C. She continued with her education and earned her B.S. in Education from St. Joseph College, Emmitsburg in 1952, and her Master’s in Nursing Administration from Boston College in 1959.
Sister Mary Agnes’s ministry has been in the healthcare field as a nurse and in hospital administration most of her life. She served in Daughters of Charity hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts; Jacksonville, Florida; Troy, New York; Pottsville, Pennsylvania; and her beloved St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut where she served as an Administrator from 1969 to 1974, and as Chair of the Board (1969-1976). In later years, Sister’s ministries included as a Docent at the Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg and as a receptionist in Holbrook, Massachusetts.
Sister served in leadership roles in her Community of the Daughters of Charity. She was part of the Provincial team in Albany as Health Councillor for six years and served as Local Community Superior in several communities of Sisters. In 2012, Sister was missioned to the Sisters’ retirement facility, St. Louise House in Albany, where she served in the Ministry of Prayer until her death.
Sister Mary Agnes was predeceased by parents, her beloved siblings Helen Byrnes, Jack and Tom O’Neil, and brother-in-law Harold Byrnes, sisters-in-law Diane O’Neil and Rita O’Neil, Nephew Chip (Harold) Byrnes, and Niece Marisa Maldonado. She is survived by 31 nieces and nephews who were blessed to know her as Auntie Mary; many cousins, friends, colleagues and her community of Daughters of Charity who were woven into the “fabric of her life” as Sister would often say. She loved her Irish Heritage and wore the “Green” and shared many a story whenever she could.
A wake service was held for Sister Mary Agnes on December 16 and the funeral Mass took place on December 17 in the DePaul Chapel, Menands Road in Albany. Interment followed at St. Agnes Cemetery, Albany.