Sister Ellen Foley, SNDdeN was born as Mary Theresa Foley in 1945 in Boston. The youngest of two children of Patrick J. Foley and Helen Walsh Foley, Sister Ellen first met the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur while she was a student at Cardinal Cushing High School in South Boston. Inspired by the Sisters she remembers as wonderful, warm and caring educators, she entered the congregation at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1964. Sister Ellen took her first vows in 1967 and final vows in 1974.
For the next 25 years, Sister Ellen served as a teacher at Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur schools in the Boston area. “Working with little children brought me great joy,” she remembers, “and I loved every day of it.” In addition to Sister Ellen’s ministry as an educator, she worked as an eldercare specialist, in ministry with those experiencing homelessness in Boston, and with a literacy program in Everett, Massachusetts.
Sister Ellen found the past 60 years of consecrated life rewarding and fulfilling. She is particularly grateful for the family, friends, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who have touched her life. The ministries she has been a part of, and the commitment and dedication of her fellow Sisters have been sources of hope and strength throughout her decades as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.