Sister Rosemarie Donovan OLM

Sister Rosemarie Donovan passed away at Presentation Manor on July 1, 2026 in the 78th year of her religious life. Predeceased by her parents, Mary Ellen (Kelly) and Thomas Donovan, her sisters Madeline (Jim Barnes) and Marguerite (Joe Boyle) and her brother Rev. Merlin Donovan, CSsR. She leaves behind her sister Monica and many nieces and nephews who dearly loved her.

She was born in Toronto and educated at St Brigid’s primary school and Notre Dame Academy before entering the Congregation of Our Lady’s Missionaries, a newly established missionary community in Alexandria, ON.

After completing her novitiate, she trained as a nurse at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Cornwall, Ontario.

Rosemarie was the first elected Congregational Leader of the new community, serving from 1962 – 1974. With very little money in the bank and great trust in God, she and her Council purchased the Maryglen Residence in downtown Toronto and shortly after opened the new missions in Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines.

In 1976 she was missioned to Nigeria, joining the community in Vandeikya and Koti Yough. These were some of the happiest years of her life. She grew to love the Nigerian people with their resiliency, wonderful sense of humour and great faith in God. She lived for a time in Vandeikya and then in the village of Koti where she worked with women’s groups, visited homes and generally shared in village life. But her major work was with people with physical disabilities, mainly children. She eventually opened a Centre for disabled people with workshops for training and employment in the town of Vandeikya.

After some 30 years in Nigeria Rosemarie returned to Canada, joining the community at 2 Leander Court. In 2018 she moved with the Congregation to Presentation Manor where she lived until her death. She leaves a legacy of love for her family, her community and the staff at the Manor and will be greatly missed by all who touched her life. There will be a wake service for Rosemarie at Presentation Manor on Thursday, July 9th at 7pm. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Friday, July 10th at 11:45am in the Presentation Manor chapel