Judith Cooper

“I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.”
– John 15:11

Sister Judith Cooper, SNDdeN was an only child, but lived on a street that had lots of other kids, which se considered her fun extended family. After going to public school for six years, in seventh grade, she transferred to Notre Dame Academy in Roxbury. It took her over 45 minutes to get to school, by bus, trackless trolley, an elevated train and another bus,  but she loved it. She stayed there through high school.

“I always thought the Sisters who taught there were warm and caring, and since my dad had two sisters who were SNDdeNs, my parents had no objections to me entering the novitiate,” she recalls. “As a novice, I remember telling my parents, ‘There’s a right way, a wrong way and a Notre Dame way of doing everything!’”

She has loved every place she has ministered from the small parish schools like St. Thomas in Peabody to Central Catholic High School in Lawrence. At first, it was an all-boys school and later became co-ed. “It was an amazing school because we reached out to all nationalities and had children from all income levels,” she recalls.

She now teach at the Notre Dame Education Center helping adults read and prepare to take citizenship tests. She also help retreatants feel welcome at the Spirituality Center.

“It doesn’t seem possible that in 2019 I marked 60 years as a Sister, but am grateful for the many ways I’ve been blessed and the people I’ve come to know—Sisters, children, parents.”

Updated 2025