Sister Amanda Rose Mahoney, 95, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died Feb. 15, 2025, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 75th year of religious life. She was a native of Louisville.
An avid reader, she was known for being gentle of heart, deeply faithful and unfailingly kind. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Brescia College in Owensboro, Ky., in 1966.
Sister Amanda Rose taught in Kentucky at Sts. Joseph and Paul School (1952-57) and Blessed Mother School (1963-67) in Owensboro, at St. Anthony School in Peonia (1967-70) and Holy Trinity School in Fredericktown (1970-75.) She also taught at St. Teresa School in Glennonville, Mo. (1957-63).
She ministered to retired Sisters in Louisville at St. Ignatius Retirement Center, 1975-77, and St. Boniface Retirement Center, 1977-82. She was a health care aide to the Sisters at the Motherhouse from 1979-80 and 1982-88. From 1988-2016, she served the elderly in the Highland Outreach Program in Louisville.
Survivors include the members of her religious community; a sister, Elizabeth White of Navarre, Fla., and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Catherine Mahoney; and her siblings Marvin Mahoney, William Donald Mahoney, Joseph Allen Mahoney and Rebecca Book.
The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Mount Saint Joseph, where visitation begins at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, with a wake service following at 6:30 p.m.
Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory, Owensboro, is handling arrangements.
Donations in memory of Sister Amanda Rose may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.
Wake Reflection Feb. 24, 2025
By Sister Martha Keller, OSU, Assistant Congregational Leader
O magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt the Lord’s name together. I sought the Lord, and the Lord answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 34: 3-9
These words prayed from the Liturgy of the Hours by our sister, Amanda Rose Mahoney, depict how she was sustained by her faith throughout her 95 years of life. She is remembered fondly by friends, employees and several sisters in our community as a gentle, holy, kind, and unassuming soul.
Sister Amanda Rose, known in her family growing up as Joan, was born on October 20, 1929, in Louisville, KY. Welcomed into the family of God, Josephine Ann was baptized at Holy Name Church in Louisville on November 3, 1929, and was confirmed in the 3rd grade on May 19, 1938. Her parents, Robert Mahoney and Catherine Howard Mahoney were blessed with six children –
3 boys and 3 girls. The oldest brother was Marvin, Joan was the second oldest in the family, followed by two other brothers Donald and the youngest brother Allen. When Joan turned nine years old, she was delighted to welcome her twin sisters, Rebecca and Elizabeth. After being the only girl in the family, she was so excited with not only one but two baby sisters. Sister Amanda Rose acknowledged that her oldest brother, Marvin, spoiled her rotten and the other two brothers teased her unmercifully, especially Donald. Of her five siblings, she has one remaining, her sister Betty who lives in Florida and is not able to be with us. We extend to Betty – as well as her niece and nephew, great niece and nephew gathered with us this evening our prayers and sympathy. We are very grateful that your aunt, Sister Amanda Rose, shared community life with us over the past 75 plus years. We extend our gratitude to the Saint Joseph Villa Healthcare staff who gave such compassionate care to Sister Amanda Rose. We are grateful to each one of you and extend our prayers and sympathy to you as well.
Sister Amanda Rose attended Holy Name Elementary School in Louisville and received her high school education at Presentation Academy in Louisville. It was during her sophomore year that Sister Amanda Rose had the opportunity to watch a film strip on the life of Saint Therese of Lisieux. St. Therese made a deep impression on her through the spiritual practice referred to as the “little way.” By following the “little way,” one does little things with great love as a way to grow in virtue and holiness. She attributed this practice to leading her after graduating to confide in her pastor, Father Tim, her desire to respond to a vocation to religious life. When he asked her where she wanted to go, she responded, “I guess it would be the Sisters of Charity for I know no other orders of sisters.” Fr. Tim suggested that she find some kind of work for at least a year. He encouraged her to say a rosary every day to know her vocation and come back to see him every couple of months. Joan worked for two years at the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company in Louisville which was a few blocks from the Cathedral of the Assumption. Occasionally, on her lunch hour she walked to the Cathedral and was able to attend Mass, which she believes led her to clarify God’s plan for her life.
After the death of her paternal grandmother, Amanda Boone Mahoney, she went with her father to visit his first cousin, Sister Rose Francis Mahoney, an Ursuline Sister of MSJ. This was the first Ursuline Sister she had met and never knew there was a religious sister in the family. When she told her about her interest in religious life, Sister Rose Francis invited her to visit Maple Mount. Sister Amanda Rose wasted no time and later that same month she came to Maple Mount, and met another cousin, Sister Florentia Mahoney. “It felt like a good fit,” she said, “I fell in love with the Ursuline Sisters. I loved the beautiful country, the sunset was amazing, and the stars – I had never seen stars so brilliant.”
Sister Amanda Rose entered on Feb. 1, 1950. It happened to be a Jubilee year in the Church but also it was the 25th jubilee of Sister Lucita Greenwell who was Mistress of Novices. For her jubilee, Sister Lucita prayed and asked others to join in praying for 25 postulants. In February when Sister Amanda Rose entered there were 17 postulants and later eight more joined them in October for a total of 25 postulants, the largest class ever in Mount Saint Joseph history. Six months later, she entered the Novitiate and asked for the name Amanda after her grandmother. She was given the name Sister Amanda Rose. She made perpetual profession on August 15, 1955. Of those 25 original classmates, two remain among us today, Sister Mary Elaine Burke and Sister Marie Carol Cecil. To each of you in your loss, we extend our prayers and love.
Sister Amanda Rose attended Mount Saint Joseph Junior College and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Education from Brescia College. Years later in preparation for her second career of ministering to the elderly, she received numerous certificates which included training in Homemaker and Personal Care, Geriatric Care, Spiritual Care of the Elderly and Disabled, Helping the Helpers as well as a certificate in First Degree Reiki of Natural Healing. Eventually, she completed a program of 60 hours and became a nursing assistant.
Her first mission was at Saint Joseph and Paul School in Owensboro as a fourth-grade teacher for three years. Then as 5th and 6th grade teacher at Saint Teresa School in Glennonville, Missouri, for six years. She returned to Owensboro as 7th grade teacher at Blessed Mother School for three years. She taught grade 4 at Saint Anthony School in Peonia for three years and then moved to Fredericktown as a teacher in the newly initiated Title One Reading program for five years.
In 1975, after 20 years of teaching, Sister Amanda Rose ventured into a new ministry of caring for the elderly in Louisville. Over the next 41 years, she assisted her own Ursuline Sisters serving as Coordinator of Retirement at Saint Ignatius and Saint Boniface, helping the semi-retired Sisters, continuing her practice of the “little way” – cooking and driving the Sisters to doctor’s appointments or anywhere they needed to go. She was asked to fill a need at the Motherhouse in health care and served for one year before returning to Saint Boniface. She returned to healthcare at the Motherhouse for the second time from 1982-1988.
However, her ministry to the elderly in Louisville was not over and from 1988-2011 she served in the Highland Outreach Program for Older People. This outreach was designed to help the elderly with such things as shopping, laundry, meal preparation and light homemaking while allowing them to remain in their own home for as long as possible.
In one of her annals, she wrote. “Reading is the joy of my life and driving people places comes a close second.” In the last five years while serving her clients she also helped her sister Betty on weekends to care for their mother.
Sister Amanda Rose enjoyed people and somehow made time to volunteer at the Red Cross, Sister Visitor, Nazareth Home and Meals on Wheels. In 2016, she moved to the Motherhouse taking a turn serving in the role of Information receptionist until 2021.
Sister Amanda Rose loved to cook and try new recipes. She is remembered as a great cook who spent extended time in the grocery reading labels to ensure that the ingredients were healthy for her commitment to healthy eating and cooking. While living in Saint Joseph Villa she loved watching the Food Channel. She was always eager to get her hands on anything that offered her more guidance on the relationship of food and health. She was convinced that the real cause of unwellness is diet. Not only did she love good healthy food she loved to connect with nature which led her to begin a practice known as “earthing” or “grounding.” While living with her dear friend, Sister Emma Anne Munsterman, both practiced grounding by regular if not daily barefoot contact with the earth. Walking barefoot in the grass, they experienced instant improvement in sleep, reduced pain, and lower levels of stress.
Sister Amanda Rose was a practitioner of centering prayer, a form of meditation that focuses on inner silence. In speaking about centering prayer she said, “The longing of the heart never goes away. Sitting in my recliner two times a day in silence helps me to become attentive and surrender to the Divine within.”
Her devotion to the rosary has been a favorite way of praying since her childhood. She prayed a rosary daily as part of her Powerhouse of Prayer ministry for the personal and spiritual needs of her companions in prayer. This year she was a companion of prayer for the Housekeeping Staff. During the week as the Sisters kept vigil with Sister Amanda Rose, Devin Gibson, the housekeeping manager, stopped in her bedroom several times and prayed in silence with her.
In a personal greeting from one of her students, Mark Spalding, who is now Bishop of Nashville, he wrote, “I can still remember being in your class. I did do “ok” back then. I want to thank you for all your years of serving as a teacher. Your ministry touched my life and many others. Know you made a difference, you showed me “God’s smile.”
One of her supervisors wrote, “Sister Amanda Rose is an excellent nursing assistant. She treats every resident with respect and a deep concern for their well-being. She is always busy doing something productive. She is well-liked by her peers and supervisors alike.”
Obviously, Sister Amanda Rose was a life-long learner. One of her favorite spiritual authors was Barbara Fiand, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. She read and treasured her many books on holistic spirituality and prayer.
The #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Shack, by William P. Young was on the bestseller lists for 177 weeks. It was one book Sister Amanda Rose read over and over and over. It was definitely a bestseller for her. She said, “It changed my life. It helped me to learn how to pray differently and broadened my way of relating to God.”
There were so many passages she highlighted. But I will share one quote which gives us a glimpse into how this book changed the way she thought about God and herself.
“Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved.
Just because you make horrendous and destructive choices does not mean you deserve less respect for what you inherently are—the pinnacle of my Creation and the center of my affection.”
An observation that stood out in the life of Sister Amanda Rose was the unique connection with several saints. As is true for many who believe in the “communion of saints” often these holy role models begin to take on a significant part in a person’s journey. Frequently, they begin to emulate the qualities and virtues of their beloved saints. I found this to be true for Sister Amanda Rose.
For example, with her baptismal saint, Saint Joseph, who is the patron of work. No doubt Sister Amanda Rose was a hard worker, a dedicated teacher, an advocate in her ministry of caring for the elderly, and not only caring for them but protecting them.
Saint Anne, her baptismal and confirmation saint, was the mother of Mary. Most likely Saint Anne not only taught her the Jewish faith but also skills in homemaking and cooking.
Saint Rose knew at an early age that she wanted to give her life to God and like Amanda Rose waited for the right time to carry out God’s plan and found great joy in being a bride of Christ.
Sister Amanda Rose chose for her feast day the Queenship of Mary. A feast that recognizes the role Mary as Queen in heaven is as an intercessor helping us grow closer to her son, Jesus. In the Catholic Church, every Saturday is dedicated to the Blessed Mother because as tradition states Mary kept vigil on Saturday with an unshaken faith in anticipation of Jesus’ resurrection.
On Saturday, Feb. 15 around 5:15 pm, I can imagine the Blessed Mother being one of many of the communion of saints who greeted Sister Amanda Rose and accompanied her as she gave her total surrender to the call of God. Fully trusting. believing, and knowing the beauty of being the pinnacle of God’s creation and the center of God’s affection.
Sister Amanda Rose, thank you for your YES and your witness of gentle words and loving acts. Thank you for your 75 years of dedicated service as an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph. Go forth with all the Saints of God for this Jubilee year you have found favor with God.
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