RIP Sr. Dolores Davis
Sr. Dolores passed away on August 18th, 2016. She devoted her entire life to missionary work in Ghana, Nigeria and Ireland. Below are some thoughts shared by Sr. Kathleen McGarvey, Provincial Leader of OLA (Ireland), at Sr. Dolores' funeral. May she rest in peace.
Sr. Dolores Davis, RIP. 1920-2016
Good afternoon and Welcome. We are gathered here today to bid farewell to Sr Dolores Davis, a gentle and sensitive woman who was gifted by God with a very long and full life and who was on Thursday night taken back home to God in a very gentle way. I’m told that Sr Dolores especially loved to pray the psalms, even when she was travelling in the car, and psalm 116 tells us that ’precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his servants”, so I believe that Sr Dolores who thought of herself always as God’s unworthy servant, is today rejoicing in the arms of God to whom she gave her entire life. And God is surely telling her: Dolores, Well done! It is indeed a blessing that her funeral is being held today, the Feast of Our Lady of Knock for whom Sr Dolores had a deep devotion. Here with us today are many of Sr Dolores’s nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, as well as her sister-in-law Mary and many other relatives and friends. You are all very welcome. A special word of welcome also to the Religious here present, to the OLA Sisters who have come from other communities in Ireland and to the SMA Fathers who as always are here in communion with us.
Sr Dolores was born in Farniharpy in Screen, Co Sligo, ninety-six years ago, and was baptised as Catherine Patricia. She was one of eight children; four of her brothers, Jim, Pat, Frank and Henry, have gone home to God and today Sr Dolores is no doubt rejoicing in heaven as she is reunited with them and their parents and other deceased family members. Her brother Peter and his wife Agatha are still alive and well in Screen, her sister Margaret and her husband Graham are in Wales and her sister Bea will soon celebrate her 100th birthday in Screen. Her sister in law Sheila is in the US. Unfortunately none of them can be with us today but they are all surely here with us in thought and prayer. I know that Margaret, with whom Dolores used to spend many of her breaks in Wales, visited here just a few weeks ago and Sr Dolores was so very happy to see her and spend time with her.
Sr Dolores did her secondary school with the St Louis Sisters in Kiltimagh, spent a few years away from home in clerical and accountancy work, and just a month before her 21st birthday she entered here in Ardfoyle, wanting, as she said herself, ‘to devote the rest of my life to missionary work’. In September 1943, she made her first profession and vowed to give her all for the growth of God’s Kingdom, especially in Africa. She first did a few years in Manchester where she obtained her teachers certificate and in 1948 she set sail for Ghana. She spent two years teaching in Cape Coast followed by ten in Keta. Then in 1960 she was transferred to Nigeria where she was to stay nine years, between teaching and teacher training in Kaduna, Maryland (Lagos), Akwanga (Kaduna), and Shendam (Jos). After a one year Catechetical programme here in Dundalk she then went once again to Ghana in 1970, together with Sr Jane Francis who is now deceased, to begin a very difficult but fruitful mission of forming a new diocesan congregation, the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, in Dzelukope, Ho diocese. Then two years back in Ireland as local superior in Ardfoyle before returning to Africa, this time in the minor seminary in Barakin Ladi, Jos, Northern Nigeria, where she spent almost nine years offering a very generous service. She finally returned to Ireland in 1990, spent twelve years in Castlemagarrett before coming home to rest here in Ardfoyle in 2003.
I’ve been told many things about the person of Sr Dolores: she was a gentle but strong woman; very sincere, loyal, hardworking, effective, and gifted; private in many ways and yet very supportive of others in community; a humble woman who did not fully appreciate her own giftedness, a committed religious who knew how to maintain a very good balance between her apostolate and her spiritual life. While she gave herself wholeheartedly wherever she was sent, I believe the mission that most remained close to her heart was that of Dzelukope and her years spent there in establishing and forming the new diocesan congregation of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church. She struggled to meet the basic needs of the young girls who entered, many of them just from primary school, and gave her very best to ensure they were equipped to live this life to which they felt called. Their leader, Sr Irene, has sent me a brief message of condolence and has assured me that they would love to be here today but are united with us in grief and in prayer. Sr Dolores always held them close to her heart, even while here in the infirmary, and she loved them as any mother would love her children. That congregation, formed by the OLA Sisters at the invitation of Bp Koning, SMA, today has about eighty sisters, present in three dioceses in Ghana, all professionally qualified women of faith, committed to serving God’s Kingdom through the fields of health and education. They are a credit to Sr Dolores and there is no doubt that she will continue to intercede for them from heaven that God may guide them to be faithful always to their charism and call. Before the altar, where we see symbols from Nigeria and Ghana representing the life and person of Sr Dolores, we see also a Citation from the Sisters to the OLAs, led by Sr Dolores, appreciating us for the selfless and dedicated service which was rendered to them for so many years.
Before I finish, I take this opportunity to thank the Sisters and staff in our own Infirmary and here in Ardfoyle who cared for and journeyed with Sr Dolores for these last years of her life. Thanks to each one of you for your great testimony of community, of love, and of service. Again, to Sr Dolores’s family, welcome and thank you for your faithfulness always to Sr Dolores and for your support of her missionary life. A special word of thanks to the O’Shea family who are here today and who have been such faithful friends to Sr Dolores over the years. May God grant each of you the strength and consolation you need.
I now hand you over to Fr Donal Fennessy to lead us in our Eucharist. Go raibh mile maith agaibh.
Kathleen McGarvey OLA, Provincial Leader
