CUMBERLAND – Mercy Sister Catherine McGreevy, 76, formerly Sister Marie Dolorice, a retired educator, principal, and executive director of programs to benefit the less fortunate, died Feb. 1 at Mount St. Rita Health Centre.
Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late John and Catherine (Appleton) McGreevy. She entered the Sisters of Mercy on September 8, 1953 and professed her vows on August 16, 1959.
Sister McGreevy was a 1953 graduate of St. Mary Academy-Bay View and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the former Catholic Teachers College, Providence. She earned a Master of Arts degree in sociology from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Sister McGreevy’s educational ministries included the former St. Patrick School, Providence in 1958, and the former St. James School, West Warwick. She was appointed principal of St. Patrick School in 1965 and in 1969 she became the principal of the former St. Matthew School, Cranston. In 1973 Sister McGreevy was named executive director of the Catholic Association for Regional Education, an urban educational project in Providence. From 1985 to 1990, she was evening administrator at the Community College of Rhode Island. In 1987, she founded the Family Outreach Center, Inc. (FOCus), a non-profit agency for underprivileged families in Providence, and remained there until her retirement in 2010.
Sister McGreevy is survived by a sister, Mercy Sister Marie Geraldyn McGreevy; an “adopted” brother, Edward Dowling of Florida; and many cousins. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Feb. 4 in Mount St. Rita Chapel. Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery, Cumberland.
