Sister Thomas Josephine was in ministry in California for more than 60 years including more than a decade at Oakland’s St. Louise Bertrand School and Bishop O’Dowd High School, and 15 years as an administrator with the Department of the Aged for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Oakland.
Catholic San Francisco
Oct. 7, 2020
Sister Thomas Josephine Lawler, baptized Julia Jeanette Lawler, died on May 16, 2020, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 99 years old and in the 78th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
Born in Chicago, Sister Thomas Josephine held a graduate degree in education from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., a graduate degree in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and a doctorate in pastoral ministry from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo.
Sister Thomas Josephine was in ministry in California for more than 60 years including more than a decade at Oakland’s St. Louise Bertrand School and Bishop O’Dowd High School, and 15 years as an administrator with the Department of the Aged for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Oakland.
She became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2010.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, the Dominican Life Center is closed until further notice to all guests or visitors. A funeral Mass was celebrated May 19, 2020 in the sisters’ St. Catherine Chapel with interment in the Congregation Cemetery.
Remembrances may be made to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan 49221.