Sister Beatrice Brennan began her ministry in the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. “In 1974, Bea, a woman with a heart as big as the world, was sent by the Society to Egypt where she spent time both in the classroom in Cairo and with our sisters in one of the poorest areas in Upper Egypt. She studied Arabic extensively and was one of the very few foreigners who could not only speak Arabic but read and write it.” “Although she had to come home for health reasons in 1987, part of her heart remained; and had it not been for the tragedy of 9/11, she would have returned in 2001, at age 82.”
“When [Bea] returned from Egypt in 1987, she taught English as a Second Language with the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service in East Harlem, New York.” She also served as an advocate for public school students. “In 2002, her eyesight failing and the streets of New York becoming difficult for her to navigate, she moved to Grand Coteau, Louisiana, a place where she could live her love of prayer, of poverty and simplicity of life and where she could help facilitate her sisters’ ministries” to impoverished rural communities.
Quotations from obituary.
