After dedicating her career to serving others, Sr. Cathleen Toomey, R.S.M. G’69 retired in December 2018, but not before leaving a significant impact on both the Assumption and Worcester communities. She credits her Assumption education for giving her the strength and skills needed to serve others during her many years of ministry.
While completing her master’s degree at Assumption, Sr. Cathleen taught students with special needs at the Mercy Centre in Worcester before taking on positions in her religious community and throughout Worcester. In 1981, she found her way back to the Assumption, becoming a member of the first Campus Ministry team, at which time she learned the value of leadership from Assumptionists Fr. Roger Corriveau, A.A. ’69 and Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A. ’69, with whom she would later collaborate in his role as provincial superior for the Assumptionists.
“Working with both of them was a blessed opportunity for me to develop my leadership skills,” she said.
For the next 14 years, Sr. Cathleen dedicated herself to the religious community, serving as a member of the leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy, as major superior of her community, and as pastoral associate at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Northborough.
“In each of these assignments, I was fortified by my master’s degree from Assumption,” Sr. Cathleen said. “Providing pastoral counseling and my experiences in various forms of leadership prepared me to take on whatever was asked of me, including spending many nights with students who were hospitalized following accidents or sudden illnesses, comforting and supporting s
tudents and families alike. As a woman and a Sister of Mercy, I was able to represent both the Sisters of Mercy and the Assumptionists, bringing the mercy of God and the heart of the Venerable Father Emmanuel d’Alzon to those whose lives I touched.”
From 2001–06, Sr. Cathleen served as director of Assumption’s Campus Ministry. Among her many duties was the “exciting challenge” of taking on a leadership role in the development and design of the Tinsley Campus Ministry Center. In conjunction with her colleagues, she also developed student programs that emphasized spiritual growth in the students who participated.
“Our hope was that we would help [our students] to become servant leaders themselves,” Sr. Cathleen said. “Ongoing contact with many alumni indicates our hopes have in many ways become reality, and that our continued prayers for them have not been in vain.”
