Evelyn Ronan

“I’m continually learning, and my joy is fed by this precious gift of faith.”

-Sister Evelyn Ronan, at her 70th Jubilee

Sister Evelyn Ronan, SNDdeN was born on October 28, 1938, to her devout parents, Arthur and Rosemary (Stanford). Her mother was an alumna of Emmanuel College in Boston, class of 1930, and her father was a graduate of Harvard Medical School. There were five children — three sons and two daughters. 

“We grew up in an atmosphere of incredible love,” she says. “My parents had a profound faith in God and that strongly impacted our close family life.” 

Having attended Catholic schools all her life, Sister Evelyn spent her high school years at Notre Dame Academy in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  

“Those four years, in every way, were the most joyous and wonderful of my life and helped me develop a strong foundation for my life,” she says. 

While she was a teenager, God got the message through about his love. She recalls, “I wanted to learn how to love, not just to show kindness. I felt him saying, ‘You can be mine.’ My thought was ‘Be a nun? No way!’”  

And she ran from God. Literally! “I got up, took the Chapel veil off and ran down the long hallway,” she says. 

Sister Evelyn with her brother, Rev. James J. Ronan, at her 70th Jubilee in Boston.

For some time, Sister Evelyn tried to convince God that she was not up to the task. “I told him that my friend Ruth would be much better than me,” she says with a wry smile.  

You could say Sister Evelyn learned that God doesn’t change his mind. She finally said yes to his call, entering the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur after graduating from high school in 1956. Her journey has lasted more than 70 years. 

Like most Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Sister Evelyn was first missioned to teach young children. She soon discovered that she was not cut out for it.

“I made up my mind that I was going to be firm and stern,” she says. “I walked in and told the children to take their seats. One little boy got out of his chair, so I went over to him and leaned down. I put my finger under his chin and lifted his face so that I could have his full attention. That was my fatal mistake.”  

Sister Evelyn looked into that little boy’s beautiful eyes and lost all resolve to be firm and stern. A laugh began to bubble up from deep inside her, and soon the whole class was laughing with her. 

After a year teaching elementary school, she went on to teach high school English, Latin, world history and religion for three years. She was then missioned to serve as the Director of Admissions at Emmanuel College in Boston. 

At that time, she felt drawn to study theology because she wanted to focus on developing lay leadership in the church.  She attended the Jesuit University in San Francisco and earned a graduate degree in theology. She then spent a year in Rome delving deeper into the transformational documents of the Second Vatican Council. Returning to the United States, Sister Evelyn became a Catholic chaplain at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and taught theology at the local diocesan seminary. 

The band of 1956 at their 70th Jubilee celebration, Emmanuel College.

Sister Evelyn also served as a formation director in Ipswich. As a novice, Sister Anne Malone, SNDdeN was one of the first to break her in: “She taught us how to pray and how to listen to God. That was a real gift.” 

Her knowledge and spirituality were next put to work in parish ministry, where she served as a pastoral associate for 25 years. In her final mission, Sister Evelyn returned to campus ministry part-time at Emmanuel College until the COVID pandemic shut down the campus.  

At the time of her 70th Jubilee in 2026, Sister Evelyn reflected on what it means to be a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur: “Experientially, it’s an incredible mystery and continual discovery about the mission of God. We never come to a point to say, ‘OK, got that down pat.’  

“I’m continually learning, and my joy is fed by this precious gift of faith.” 

Updated in 2026