Sr. Katherine Martin Caughey

On the 30th of January, 1960, Sister Katherine Martin, SND promised Poverty, Chastity and Obedience in consecrating her life in service to Christ and His Church . . . and she never looked back.

Patricia Ann Caughey, who grew up in North Reading, first entered religious life with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur three years earlier and professed her final vows on July 30, 1965. By then she'd been educated at Emmanuel College, Boston College and at Seton Hall College where she earned the requisite degrees in education and in administration, skills she honed throughout her sixty plus years of ministry.

What she already knew however was how to love God's people and to serve them selflessly, sacrificially and with profound joy. Every day of her life.

Sr. Katherine devoted her life to education in parish elementary schools in Dorchester, Leominster, East Boston, Cambridge and in Hudson before landing at Saint Jude School in Waltham where she was the principal for the past thirty-three years. She'd also served for a time on the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur throughout the Eighties.

It was at Saint Jude's however where she left an everlasting mark. Through her work at school and at the church she got to know practically every family in the parish. In addition to being a Eucharistic minister and lector she became the resident decorator extraordinaire at Christmas and at Easter and on every Sunday in between . . . and she was the consummate and gracious hostess who could arrange an elegant event in the parish hall on a moment's notice.

Sr. Katherine Martin, SND, beloved teacher, principal, professional and friend drew her last breath on Monday, June 18, 2018 at the Notre Dame Long Term Care Center in Worcester after having suffered a stroke a week earlier. She was 79.

Among the most treasured items she ever possessed were thirty plus years' worth of cards and notes she'd received from her students, teachers and parents . . . each of them testifying to her warmth, love, kindness and generosity.

One of this week's cards reads . . . "Dear Sister Katherine, Thank you for helping me learn how to pray and know Jesus. You helped me to grow every day." . . . and on Monday we trust she heard the words so beautifully proclaimed in Matthew's Gospel, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Sr. Katherine was always fond of repeating the words of the founder of the Notre Dame order, Saint Julie Billiart . . . "How good is the good God who tries us! If we live by crosses, we shall die of love."

Her other constant refrain . . . "God is good" will remain in the hearts and the minds of all who knew and loved her.

She was born in Boston, on July 11, 1938 to the late Martin and Katherine (Benson) Caughey and leaves her sisters, Bertha 'Hunna' Aziz and her husband, Edward, Sr. of Haverhill and Margaret 'Peggie' Peretti, of Peaks Island, Maine; her sister-in-law, Mary Caughey; many nieces and nephews and their families, and her confrères in the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Sr. Katherine was also a sister of the late Martin, John and William Caughey and sister-in-law of the late Frank Peretti.

Family and friends will honor and remember Sister Katherine's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Friday, June 22nd from 4 to 8 p.m. [Wake vigil service will be at 7 p.m.] and again at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Notre Dame Cemetery in Ipswich.

Memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of Notre Dame deNamur, 30 Jeffrey's Neck Road, Ipswich, MA 01938.

. . . and from her favorite song . . .

Like a sunflower that follows
Every movement of the sun,
So I turn towards You, to follow You, my God.
In simplicity, charity, I follow.
In simplicity, honesty, I follow.
In simplicity, fidelity, I follow.
Like a sunflower that follows
Every movement of the sun,
So I turn towards You, to follow You, my God.

Requiescat in Pace †