Sister Mary Alice Shannon

Sr. Mary Alice Shannon, age 89, a sister of the Holy Names since 1995, died January 9, 2023, at her retirement residence in the Sisters of St. Joseph Provincial House, Latham. “Shannon” was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, on April 11, 1933, the youngest child of James and Agnes Sullivan Shannon. Because of her father’s work, Shannon’s family home was on Saratoga’s Yaddo Estate grounds. Almost like a setting created for a children’s novel, Shannon grew up quite literally surrounded by famous professional artists from the world of film, musical composition, sculpture, and literature, to name but a few of the greats living and creating in Yaddo’s supportive “retreat center.” So, whether by nature or by nurture, Shannon came to possess both an ardent interest in all things artistic and notable personal talent, especially for poetry writing, painting, sculpture, and photography. She also felt a call to working with little children and to religious life, and, after high school, entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame. It seemed that “the beautiful” and “the Divine” were two sides of the same coin for Sister Shannon. Like a single subject painted from different perspectives, over time Shannon’s expression of art and ministry had three distinct “looks”: First, in her years as a School Sister of Notre Dame, she taught in parochial schools on the East Coast, employing her skills with various art forms to engage young learners. Then, as a lay woman, she gained an MA in Clinical Child Psychology, adding the education needed to use art therapeutically in children's mental health programs. She also did further study in Early Childhood Education, and, in the mid-90s, after some years as an SNJM associate she became a vowed Holy Names Sister. In these years, Shannon lent her personal gifts, as a sculptor, painter, and lover of young children, to more elementary teaching and workshops, and to her work with aspiring teachers at Skidmore College. She also led various nature or arts-based retreats. By her encouragement and gentle ways, Shannon brought her students, friends, and colleagues to new and unique encounters with beauty in themselves, in creation, and in the divine. We rejoice with her as she is now enjoying her own divine encounter! The liturgy celebrating Sr. Shannon’s more than six decades of creative life and ministry will be held on Monday, February 27, 2023, at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Provincial House, 385 Watervliet-Shaker Rd., Latham. We will begin with a time of prayer and remembering at 10:00 AM and mass will follow immediately at 11:00. Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery, Rt.9 in Glenmont. Anyone joining us is asked to bring a mask. If you wish, memorial contributions may be sent to Sisters of the Holy Names, 1121 New Scotland Rd. Albany, NY, 12208.

Sister Mary Alice Shannon

April 11, 1933 - January 9, 2023