Hawthorne Dominican Sister Mary Aquinas Sullivan, who cared for terminally ill cancer patients for over 40 years of religious life, died at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home in Atlanta Feb. 7. She was 74.

A native of Worcester, Mass., Sister Aquinas entered the order in 1949 at the motherhouse in Hawthorne, N.Y. She had been trained as a licensed practical nurse before becoming a Religious and was sent to the community’s Fall River, Mass., home on her first assignment.

Sister Aquinas came to Atlanta in 1955 and served here until 1983, when she was appointed superior of Our Lady of Good Counsel Home in St. Paul, Minn. She returned to Atlanta in 1989.

“She was a little bit of a thing,” said Father Richard Lopez, who visits Our Lady of Perpetual Help once a month to give spiritual conferences to the sisters. “But she had great energy, wisdom and humor.” He said he will most remember her easy smile and laughter.

Sister Mary Regis, OP, superior at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, said Sister Aquinas “was a very hard worker who did beautiful nursing care. She was very devoted to her patients.”

Father Lopez was the principal celebrant at the funeral Mass Feb. 11, held in the chapel at the home. Burial was in Westview Cemetery in southwest Atlanta.

Sister Aquinas is survived by two sisters, Catherine Sullivan of Fall River and Mary Appel of San Diego, as well as several nieces and nephews.