Retired School Sisters of Notre Dame die in Connecticut car crash

Published: 2004-12-29

WILTON, Conn. (CNS) -- A funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 27 for two elderly School Sisters of Notre Dame killed in a car accident Dec. 22. A third sister who was driving the car, Sister Catherine "Kay" O'Connell, 69, a former teacher and the province's historian, remained in critical condition at Hartford Hospital. Holy Cross Father Thomas Elliott, resident chaplain at the order's motherhouse in Wilton, was the main celebrant at the funeral Mass for Sister M. Teresa "Caroline" Carroll, 81, and Sister M. Christella "Rita" Sheehan, 83. Bishop Michael R. Cote of Norwich and Msgr. Richard Shea, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull, participated at the Mass at the motherhouse, where the two deceased nuns had lived. The sisters died when the Chevy Cavalier in which they were riding was rear-ended by a 5,000-pound van hauling stone. The impact slammed the car into a concrete barrier, trapping the women inside.

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