Agnes Rose McNally (1928-2025)
Returned to God November 6, 2025.
Sister Agnes Rose was the eighth of nine children (five girls and four boys), born in Philadelphia to James P. McNally and Anna R. O’Hara, both from Pennsylvania. She was in contact with many nieces and nephews from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Agnes was baptized and attended Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary elementary school in Philadelphia, and the Academy of Notre Dame, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia (transferred to the Academy of Notre Dame, Villanova, Pennsylvania) for high school. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and a master’s degree in special education at Boston University.
Having taught several years in parish elementary schools, Agnes became a special education teacher in D.C. and then a professor at the State University of New York in Genesee.
She served on the Maryland Province Team and the Maryland Province Sharings Group Team before becoming, for 10 years, the Director of the Tribunal in Richmond, Virginia, where, in her own words, her new role was to “create an atmosphere of welcome.”
Agnes was a member of the Chesapeake Team for two terms (four-year teams) and also coordinated the Family Community/Resource Center at Tench Tilghman elementary school in Baltimore, Maryland, for 10 years. During these ministries, Agnes was always grateful to Sister Mary Joan Kentz, SNDdeN, as her teacher and mentor.
On the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, Agnes wrote that she “saw God’s hands” as calling her to become an SNDdeN and to inherit a share in Julie’s dynamic belief that God is Good. She noted that she was gifted for the opportunities to serve in a wide variety of ministries and to realize that “nothing was wasted for everything is grace.”
After retirement, Agnes lived in Worcester, Mass., where she appreciated the Sisters and engaged in activities.
Sister Agnes Rose’s Ministries
1949-55 St. Eleanor School, Collegeville, Pa. (Teacher, Grades 1 & 2)
1955-62 Academy of Notre Dame, Villanova, Pa. (Teacher, Grade 1)
1962-63 Trinity College, Washington, DC (Study/Community Service)
1963-70 Kennedy Institute, Washington, DC (Teacher, Special Education)
1974-79 State University of New York, Geneseo, NY (Assistant Professor)
1979-81 SNDdeN Maryland Province, Ilchester, Md. (Provincial Government Group)
1981-82 Maryland Province Sharings Group, Ilchester, Md. (Administrator)
1982-83 Diocese of Richmond, Richmond, Va. (Director of Tribunal)
1983-93 Diocese of Richmond Director, Norfolk, Va. (Director of Diocesan Tribunal Office )
1994-98 SNDdeN Chesapeake Province, Baltimore, Md. (Administrative Team Member)
1999 -2009 Julie Community Center, Baltimore, Md. (Coordinator, Family & Community/Resource Center, Tench Tilghman School)
2010-14 SNDdeN Chesapeake Province Baltimore, Md. (Administrative Team Member)
Updated 2025