Alumna Sr. Mary Ewens Marks 70 Years as a Sinsinawa Sister

The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa announced the 70th Jubilee of Sr. Mary Ewens, OP, ’60, who served at Rosary College for 17 years.

Sr. Mary received a BA in English from Rosary College and taught courses in American literature, music, art and religion. She also served as chair of the American Studies Department, directed the Rosary-in-London study abroad program for one term, and was dean of the Rosary Graduate School of Art in Florence, Italy.

Sr. Mary made her profession of vows as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa in 1955 and received the religious name of Sr. Ruth. Her ministry has been dedicated to teaching, from grade school to higher education, and research into the history of Catholic Sisters. She is the author of the book The Role of the Nun in Nineteenth-century America and is a founder of the Conference on the History of Women Religious, which presented her with its Distinguished Historian Award.

She served as director of the Jubilee Community Centre in Rome, a graduate student residence for Sisters from developing countries studying at the various universities in Rome. She was also executive director of the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, supervising more than 1,000 grants for Sisters’ projects among the poor worldwide. She later created the Funding Workshop for Religious, which she offered many times in Rome and also in Latin America.

Sr. Mary currently resides in Muskego, Wisconsin and is continuing her research ministry.