Sister Mary Brendan's Services
Visitors are welcome.
Visitation: 4:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., Thursday, April 11, 2019 at Aquinas Center, Sacred Heart Convent, 1237 W. Monroe St. in Springfield. The visitation begins with a prayer service.
Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 11, 2019 at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Father Peter Witchousky, OP, celebrant.
Morning Prayer, Remembering, and Final Commendation: 10:30 a.m., Friday, April 12, 2019 at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel. Burial follows at Calvary Cemetery.
Springfield Dominican Sister M. Brendan Gibbons died suddenly and unexpectedly this morning, April 9, 2019, at St. John’s Hospital, Springfield, Ill. She was born in Gridley, Ill., in 1934, and named Mary Bernadette by her parents, Ralph and Camilla (Cleary) Gibbons. She made her profession of vows in 1954 at Sacred Heart Convent, Springfield, Ill.
Sister M. Brendan dedicated her life to teaching children—variously, grades 1-6—in the Illinois’ dioceses of Joliet, Springfield, Peoria, and Rockford; in the archdiocese of Chicago, and in San Diego, Calif.
In 2016, she retired to Sacred Heart Convent from St Peter School, Aurora, where she taught and provided support services for 13 years. She also enjoyed long years of service at Holy Cross, Mendota; St. John, Carrollton; and St. Lawrence O’Toole, Matteson. For the past three years she was a tenacious assistant in the congregational archives, where she relished organizing records and unearthing minute historical facts.
Sister M. Brendan was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Rita Maloney and Sally (Bob) Sengpiel, and her brother John. She is survived by her sisters Julie (Don) Martinez, Chicago; Jane (Skip) Smith, Westfield, Ind.; Helen (Peter) Brandon, Olympia Fields, Ill.; and Rose (Tom) Crosby, Marion, Ill; her brother Jim (Bonnie), St. George, Utah, and many beloved nieces, nephews, and friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL, 62704.
The Dominican Sisters and family of Sister M. Brendan are being served by Butler Funeral Homes, Springfield.
Please share your story
Please share what your relationship with Sister Mary Brendan meant to you. It would mean so much to us. Thank you.
You couldn’t help being drawn to her, first by her sense of humor, and then by her kindness and compassion! What a wonderful role model and mentor to everyone who knew her.
Jack, Sally and Rita enjoy being reunited with your sweet sister. And you too, Daisy and Camilla – “you done good”.
She will be missed by so many.
Sister Brendan was so helpful when I taught RE for the first time at
St. Lawrence O’Toole. Be at peace in the arms of God, dear Sister!