Maryknoll nun, 80, killed by truck in New York City

Published: 2004-11-16

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Maryknoll Sister Catherine Mary Lee, an 80-year-old native of China who spent most of her life teaching, was run over by a flatbed truck Nov. 15 as she walked across a New York City street. The retired sister, who was involved in outreach work at the Church of the Transfiguration in New York's Chinatown, was killed instantly when a truck turning right hit her and ran over her in the street intersection. According to police reports, the truck driver most likely did not see the nun. "She was a small, frail woman but her energy amazed many of us. She served as a role model and inspiration," said Howard Schwartz, Maryknoll's media relations director. "People who knew her described her as full of spunk," he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview Nov. 16. "She didn't let anything stop her from reaching out to help others. She pushed until the end." Schwartz said her death is a "tremendous loss" for the many people she knew in New York and Hong Kong and added that she will be "sorely missed."

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