A funeral Mass for Sister Colleen Hennessey was celebrated Aug. 23 at St. Teresa Church in Chatawa, Miss. Sister Colleen, 92, died Aug. 19 at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa. The School Sister of Notre Dame was a teacher, principal and administrator.
Born in St. Louis on June 10, 1927, Audrey Ann Hennessey was the eldest of two children to Thomas and Alice (Lamb) Hennessey. She attended Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary and Hanley Junior High School in University City. She completed her high school education at Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis in 1945 and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame convent that year. She professed vows in 1948.
Sister Colleen earned a bachelor’s degree from Webster College in St. Louis, a master’s degree in education from DePaul University and a doctoral degree from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Sister Colleen taught at St. Francis Borgia School in Washington (1948-50) and St. Gabriel School in St. Louis (1950-55). She also served at schools in Louisiana and Texas. She was dean of the College of Education at the University of Dallas and superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston for 26 years. She also was president of St. Michael’s School in New Orleans. In 2019, she retired to St. Mary of the Pines community, where she spent her final days.
She is survived by her brother, Thomas Luke Hennessey. Burial was in Chatawa Cemetery.
