Sister Ursula Marie McGovern, 88, formerly Sister M. Cajetan, entered eternal life on December 24, 2024. A member of the Sisters of St. Dominic for 71 years, she was born in the Bronx, to Edward and Agnes Egan McGovern on Feb. 20, 1935. She entered the Sisters of St. Dominic on February 2, 1953, from Holy Spirit Parish, the Bronx, and professed her first vows on August 25, 1953.

Sister Ursula earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Catholic Teachers College, Rhode Island; a master’s degree in reading from Manhattan College, Bronx; and a master’s degree in early childhood education from the College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle.

Her ministry as an educator spanned several decades, during which she taught and led schools across New York, Rhode Island, and Jamaica. From 1958 to 1971, she taught at St. Raymond School, Providence, Rhode Island, and Immaculate Conception School, Amenia. Sister Ursula then served as teacher and principal in the congregation’s mission in Christiana, Jamaica. This mission shaped her lifelong commitment to social justice and human development. In 2000, she traveled to Iraq with the Dominican Order’s delegation Voices for Veritas to document the impact of the U.S. war on Iraqi children. Sister Ursula served as preaching promoter for the Blauvelt Dominicans from 1999-2005.

Returning to the United States in 1978, Sister Ursula taught at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School in the Bronx. She later became the principal of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Tappan. (1980-1986). Her next role was at St. Dominic’s Family Services, where she served as education coordinator for over a decade before becoming the director of early childhood education.

In 2008, Sister Ursula attended the Ministry to Ministers Sabbatical Program at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. In her later years, she ministered at Dominican University’s Learning Resource Center.

Sister Ursula is survived by her sister, Cathleen Sheridan, and her husband, John; niece Kelly; husband Jim O’Neill; their children, Teagan and Patrick; and nephew Robert and nieces Stacey and Lauren. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Edward T. McGovern.

Services will be held at St. Dominic’s Convent, 496 Western Highway, Blauvelt, NY 10913. Wake: 9:30-11 a.m. Friday, January 3, 2025. Mass of Christian Burial: 11 a.m. Friday, January 3, 2025. Burial will follow in St. Dominic’s Convent Cemetery. Arrangements by Hannemann Funeral Home, Nyack.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt.