Sister Margaret Mary Pauline passes away

Sister Pauline (Margaret Mary) Egan went home to God May 8, at St. Catherine’s South. The daughter of John and Hannah O’Neill Egan, Sister Pauline was born Aug. 8, 1930, in Monagurra Townland, Co. Cork, Ireland. 

After completion of secondary school in Ireland, she immigrated to the United States and in 1947 entered the Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fargo. She attended Sacred Heart Junior College and in 1952 completed x-ray technician training at St. John’s Hospital. She made profession of perpetual vows in 1953. 

For a total of 21 years Sister Pauline worked in x-ray and clinical laboratory departments in hospitals in Park River, Langdon, Carrington, and New Rockford. During many of those years she also worked in the business offices of the hospitals. In her spare time, she did alcohol-use education and facilitated a support group for persons with chemical dependency. 

In 1973, she went to Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) where she served in hospital x-ray departments and for seven years was affiliated with the Peace Corps. For a short period of time, she returned to the U.S. and earned credentials in teaching from the State University of New York at Buffalo. When she returned to Africa, she established a school to train radiology technicians at Kinshasha Hospital. In 1982, Sister Pauline moved to Swaziland where she continued her work in patient care and education in x-ray, community organizing and religious education.  

After six years in Swaziland, she returned to the U.S. and worked at Dakota Clinic in Fargo from 1988 to 1992. She went back to Africa; this time she went to Zambia where she worked with other Presentation Sisters and was director of a facility for handicapped children. She also led the development of a sewing factory which provided employment for women in the local area.  

Upon her return to the U.S. in 1998, Sister Pauline served with the Sacred Heart Southern Missions in Mississippi where she worked in direct aid and advocacy programs. 

In 2012, Sister Pauline “retired” to Sacred Heart Convent in Fargo. Her zeal, love for the poor, and involvement with people did not tire. Until recently she volunteered at the food pantry and thrift stores and visited residents in skilled care facilities.  

Throughout her life her mantra was an echo of the words of Nano Nagle, the foundress of the Presentation Sisters: “If I could be of service in saving souls in any part of the globe, I would gladly do all in my power.” Until her last breath she continued to pray for all the people she encountered in her long and fruitful life. 

She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings: Tommy, Philip, Patrick, Michael, John, Nellie, Bridie McCarthy. Surviving Sister Pauline are her Presentation Sisters and Associates and her nieces and nephews—Mary Terry, AnneMarie Tryell, Joseph Egan, Kathleen Egan, Dan McCarthy, Carmel McCarthy, John Egan, Anne O’Brien, Collete McDonald, John Egan (a third namesake of her father) and Margaret Egan. 

Vigil service was May 14 at St. Joseph Chapel, Riverview Place and funeral was May 15 at St. Joseph Chapel, Riverview Place with internment in Holy Cross Cemetery North, Fargo.