Sheila Palmer

Sister Sheila Palmer, SNDdeN was born and raised in Jamaica, where she entered the Franciscan Missionary Sisters in 1956 at the age of 16. She was educated at Fordham College and taught high school English in Jamaica. 

After 32 years with the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, Sister Sheila wanted to join her family, who had all moved to America. It was a difficult decision.

“My sister and my brother took their children to America to get a better education,” she shares. “By then, I knew that my order in Jamaica was shrinking in terms of numbers and philosophy. My ‘Grandmothers’ in the order cried and cried when I told them I was leaving. Nothing but tears.” 

Sister Sheila wanted to transfer to a religious order in the U.S. where she could teach and where diversity was valued. She found the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Her first experience was teaching high schoolers in Connecticut. She was used to students standing when their teacher entered the room. Children were seen and not heard. Not in America. It was a big culture shock.

Next, Sister Sheila taught at East Catholic High School in East Hartford before transferring to Cardinal Cushing in Boston. There, she and the other Sisters worked to integrate black students into the student body. 

She still remembers the day Sister Maria Delaney, SNDdeN called to ask if she would help start the Notre Dame Education Center and teach English as a Second Language. She jumped at the chance to work with culturally diverse students. However, there were some issues. Students from countries that were at war were seated next to students from the “enemy” country. This naturally led to disagreements in the classroom. 

According to Sister Sheila, Sister Maria came to the rescue: “She told the children, ‘We have 50 different countries represented in this room. Get along, or we could start World War 3.’”

At her 70th Jubilee in 2026, Sister Sheila is most grateful that God led her to become a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.