Sr. Mary Therese Currie, SHCJ

Mary Therese (Tese) Currie

(Mother Mary Aloysius)

August 19, 1927 – February 14, 2024

Rosemont, Pennsylvania – Mary Therese (Tese) Currie, a Sister of the Holy Child Jesus for 73 years, died peacefully on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. She was 96.

Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sister Tese was the eldest daughter of John F. and Mary (Dowdall) Currie. She deeply loved her parents and three younger brothers, John, Dick, and Bill. 

Sister Tese attended Saint Leonard’s Academy, where she was taught by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. At Saint Leonard’s, she first felt “a tug at my heart” to enter religious life. During her second year at Rosemont College, she answered “God’s call” and entered the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in 1947. Sister Tese made her first and final vows in 1950 and 1955, respectively, and became well known by her religious name Mother Mary Aloysius. Several Currie family members entered religious life, including her brother Bill Currie, SJ, her Aunt Gertrude (Mother Mary Dunstan, SHCJ), and cousins Charles Currie, SJ, Joseph Currie, SJ, and Rob Currie, SJ.

Sister Tese’s teaching ministry began at her alma mater, Saint Leonard’s Academy, where she taught for “six happy years” (1950-56). She then was named Assistant to the Novice Director, a position she held for the next eight years (1956-64). Beginning in 1964, Sister Tese served as Dean of Students at Rosemont College for three years. 

Sister Tese moved to the West Coast to serve as the Novice Director in Pasadena, California (1967-70) and then Portland, Oregon (1970-76) to teach and then serve as the western province’s provincial leader. 

In 1976, Sister Tese began her “splendid 17-year Chilean ministry.” She called these years the “education of her heart because of the warmth of the people and their keen sense of hospitality.” She worked in soup kitchens, education, and pastoral care, and joined a grassroots effort to build a Catholic Church and community gathering space.

Washington, D.C., was Sister Tese’s next destination, where she worked as a receptionist at Our Lady of Queen of the Americas Parish (1994-2001) and later as a tutor at San Miguel Middle School (2001-07). In the meantime, she became the American Province’s editor of the Society’s History project, documenting the Society’s history “one volume at a time.” 

In 2007, Sister Tese returned to the Philadelphia area, where she “reveled in encounters with SHCJ, family, and school friends.” Sister Tese wrote for the province’s magazine, Actions, visited Sisters, assisted with her parish’s RCIA program, volunteered at weekend retreats for Spanish-speaking women, and founded The Evergreens, a group of Sisters, Holy Child Associates, and friends who gathered to pray and share ways of caring for creation. 

In December 2023, Sister Tese shared that “each day is a gift, bringing me closer to eternity. I am grateful to the Society of the Holy Child Jesus for 73 years of loving care … I feel happy and blessed.”

She joins her parents, John and Mary, and brothers, John and Dick, in eternal rest. She is survived by her brother Bill Currie, SJ, sister-in-law Jean M. Currie, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and cousins. 

Friends and family are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, February 21, at 11:00 a.m., at Holy Child Chapel, 1341 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, Pennsylvania 19010. Preceding Mass, friends and family are invited to a visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent to the Society of the Holy Child Jesus – American Province, 1341 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, PA 19010, or made online at www.shcj.org/american/donate.