SINSINAWA — Sr. Miguel Hearty, OP, died August 7, 2015, at St. Dominic Villa. The funeral Mass was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa August 11, 2015, followed by burial in the motherhouse cemetery.
Sister Miguel made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican August 5, 1933, and her final profession August 5, 1936. She taught for 53 years, including at a preschool she founded for underserved minority children in Apalachicola, Fla.; served as principal for 12 years; and ministered as educational consultant for five years. Sister Miguel’s educational expertise was shared nationally while she served as editor of the Catholic youth publications Mine One Magazine, Mine Four Magazine, and Hi Mine Magazine at different times between 1948 and 1963. She served as consultant to 29 schools in 10 states in the congregation’s Southeast Province. At that time, it was becoming apparent that Sisters would no longer be capable of staffing the numbers of schools they had previously. The province team developed a system to evaluate a school’s current and future prospects in regards to Sister staff and school operations. The process helped parishes and lay people continue to operate their schools after the Sisters were no longer assigned there. Sister Miguel’s ministries were based in Illinois, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Florida.