Margaret Nawn

Sister Margaret “Peggy” Nawn, SNDdeN was born in Boston, the only child of Dominic and Bridget (Greeley) Nawn. She met the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur through her parish.

“The Sisters were there for us all the time,” she remembers. “I looked up to them.”

Sister Peggy entered the convent in 1956, took her first vows in 1959 and final vows in 1964. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Spanish from Emmanuel College and a master’s in theological studies from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Early missions took Sister Margaret to St. Mary’s in Cambridge, where her mother could come for occasional visits. She also taught at St. Michael’s in Hudson, Bishop Stang in North Dartmouth , St. Mary in Cambridge, and St. Gregory in Dorchester, where she stayed for just one year. She was one of the first teachers to open Bishop Fenwick in Peabody. 

As a pastoral minister at St. Catherine Parish in Charlestown, Sister Peggy loved working directly with people and making them aware of their rights and resources. She often drew on her Emmanuel education to minister to Spanish-speaking parishioners.

“My most meaningful missions were at places that would reach out and let people know that someone cares about them,” she shares.

At the time of her 70th Jubilee in 2026, Sister Peggy said, “Religious life allowed me to go places where I could make a difference in people’s lives. I had a lot of good support around me and a lot of people who prayed for me.”