Sister Rosemary Lynch
Sister Rosemary Lynch, 93, a highly regarded international speaker and leader for peace, passed away in Las Vegas, NV on January 9, 2011. She had been a member of FOR since October 1, 1984.
Born on March 18, 1917 in Phoenix, AZ, Rosemary attended St Mary’s Parish schools in Phoenix. She determined to join the Sisters of St. Francis upon graduation from high school after being inspired by the Friars at Parish as well as her brother becoming a Franciscan Friar. Rosemary entered the community in Stella Niagara, NY in 1932 and took her vows as a Franciscan Sister in 1934. At that time, she was known as Sister Richard.
Sister Rosemary (Richard) spent the first 25 years of her career as an educator. She taught grade school in New Jersey until 1938 when she became one of the pioneering Sisters who opened up St. Mary’s Catholic Grade School in Santa Maria on the West Coast. She transferred to Sierra Madre in 1942 where she continued to teach 1st & 2nd grades until 1946 when she began teaching High School in Los Angeles. In 1952 until 1960 she moved to Montana to be a teacher and principal at Havre Catholic Central High School.
In 1960, Sister Rosemary’s intellectual gifts and spiritual depth were recognized when, as a delegate to the General Meeting of her international community in Rome, she was elected to the General Council. As a Council member and the First Assistant to the General Minister, she visited the many countries where the Sisters of her Congregation reside for the next 16 years. It was on these journeys that Sister Rosemary witnessed the devastation of poverty and war throughout the world which made her both compassionate and determined to help change the systems that created such problems.
When she returned to the United States in 1977, she and her faithful companion, Sister Klaryta, joined a new community formed in Las Vegas by various Franciscan groups. There she helped to found the peace and nonviolence organization “Pace e Bene,” named for a greeting used by Saint Francis that means “peace and all good.” Sister Rosemary was also one of the first witnesses at the Nevada Test Site, calling for the cessation of testing, and founded the “Nevada Desert Experience” to protest the explosion of nuclear bombs.
A tireless voice for peace and justice, Sister Rosemary spoke eight languages and was often called upon to offer her comments and wisdom to groups in many different countries. News of her death, a result of being struck by a car while out on her daily walk, brought an outpouring of sympathy and grief from around the world. She is survived by many loving nieces, nephews, and other relatives, as well as all those who will keep her spirit alive by continuing to “make the path by walking” as Sister Rosemary did.
