Dominican Sister of Peace Virginia Mary (Mary Alicene) Sammett, OP, (90), a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, died on June 13, 2021, at Norton Hospital Louisville, Kentucky.
Born in 1930 to Alice Largento and Carl Sammett, Sr. Virginia attended Mount Trinity Academy. She entered the Congregation in 1948 and took her final vows in 1952, serving the Church and her people for 71 years.
Sr. Virginia Mary earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy/ Psychology/English from Siena College (Memphis, TN) and a Master of Arts in Reading from Clarke College (Dubuque, IA). She put that excellent education to work ministering as an educator and administrator in schools in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts for more than 40 years. Sr. Virginia also served as coordinator of a Language Arts program in the Diocese of Brooklyn and as the Reading Specialist for eight elementary schools staffed by our Congregation in Massachusetts.
In 2005, Sister Virginia began a new service to God’s people when she led a prayer ministry at Neville Place at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, MA. In reflecting on this ministry, she commented that she prayed the rosary with the residents and tried to be “radically open to ongoing conversion into the peace of Christ.” Her thoughtful ministry of care was much appreciated by the residents of the health care facility.
Sister Virginia was deeply involved in both the community life and the study life of our Congregation, as well in social justice issues ranging from racism to gun control to immigration.
In 2018, Sister moved to St. Catharine Motherhouse (St. Catharine, KY) where she continued to serve her community and the Congregation. In 2019, Sr. Virginia Mary moved to Sansbury Care Center (St. Catharine, KY) where she began a ministry of prayer and presence.
When speaking at Sr. Virginia’s funeral service, Sr. Kathleen Corrigan, OP, noted that the Scripture that Sr. Virginia chose was the fourteenth chapter of John, which begins with the words “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in me.” Sr. Kathleen said that Sr. Virginia not only lived by those words, but she modeled them for others, caring for and inspiring confidence in her many students as well as the elderly people to whom she ministered.
Sr. Virginia Mary is survived by several cousins.
Visitation and funeral services at Sansbury Care Center Chapel were held on June 22 and 23. Sr. Virginia Mary was buried in the St. Catharine Motherhouse cemetery.
To donate in Sr. Virginia Sammett’s memory, please click here.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Virginia Mary’s memory may also be sent to Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Dr., Columbus, OH 43219-2098.
To download and print a PDF copy of this memorial, please click here.