Sr. Virginia "Ginny" Gaine, SHCJ

Virginia (Ginny) Gaine, SHCJ

February 2, 1931 – June 27, 2025

Educator, Province and Financial Councilor, Society Treasurer

Rosemont, Pennsylvania – Virginia (Ginny) Gaine, a Sister of the Holy Child Jesus for 65 years, died peacefully on Friday, June 27, 2025, at the age of 94.

Sister Ginny cherished her family, friends, former students, colleagues, and fellow Holy Child Sisters. She was known for her kindness, sense of humor, and love of puzzles and books, particularly those related to Ireland or spiritual life. Sister Ginny had a peaceful presence that she shared with everyone she met. Her intelligence and mathematical skills were instrumental in making and analyzing many financial decisions that advanced the Society's mission for over 40 years. She will be dearly missed.

Born and raised in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Sister Ginny entered religious life ten years after graduating from high school. She first attended Chestnut Hill College in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1951. After college, Sister Ginny moved to Maryland to work as a mathematician at the Army Map Service of the Department of Defense. While working there, she enrolled in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a Master of Education degree.

In 1954, Sister Ginny began teaching at Annunciation School in Washington, D.C., which was staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. It was at Annunciation that she first met the Holy Child Sisters. With her faith in God and respect for the Holy Child Sisters, she felt called to join the Society of the Holy Child. She made her first vows in 1960 and her final vows in 1965, becoming well known by her religious name Mother Patrick Mary.

Early in her vocation, Sister Ginny taught at Holy Child Academy in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, from 1960 to 1964, and at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland, from 1964 to 1970.

In 1971, after earning a Master of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame, Sister Ginny began working in province administration. She held several positions, including provincial councilor, finance councilor, financial advisor, and investment officer. To address the declining finances of the Society in the 1970s, she founded the American Province's Investment Advisory Committee, which included both lay men and women to assist with investment strategies. The province’s committee still operates today. On an international level, she served as the Society's treasurer and investment officer. Her gift with numbers, planning, and practicality significantly benefited the Society and its ministries.

In December of 2020, Sister Ginny moved to Holy Child Center, where the staff quickly recognized her wonderful personality, passion for puzzles, books, and a hot cup of Irish tea, as well as her love for Holy Child.

She joins her parents, John and Elizabeth (Fitzgerald); her sisters Margaret, Elizabeth Keegan (Rob), Joan Hutchison (Robert), Patricia Magovern, and Catherine Maureen McGowan (Paul); and her two brothers, John (Tish) and Patrick. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Marybeth Gaine, and many devoted nephews and nieces and their families.

Friends and family are invited to a Prayer of Remembrance on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 4:00 p.m., and a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, July 9, at 11:00 a.m., at Holy Child Chapel, 1341 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, Pennsylvania 19010. Preceding Mass, friends and family are welcome to attend the visitation at 10:00 a.m.

If you are a relative, friend, alumni/ae, or colleague of Sister Ginny and would like to virtually attend the Funeral Mass, please email holychildsisters@shcj.org. A link will be sent to you within 24 hours of the Mass.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Society of the Holy Child Jesus – American Province, 1341 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, Pennsylvania 19041, or made online at https://www.shcj.org/american/donate.