Hearn, Agnes Felix

• Sister Agnes Hearn, SOS

Born 5 May 1906, St. Catharines, Ontario; daughter of Thomas Hearn and Mary Ann Bench; entered: 2 February 1928; first vows 15 Oct. 1929; final vows, 23 June 1935; died 22 April 2006.

Raised on a fruit farm outside of St. Catharines, Ontario, Agnes attended the local four-room St. Catherine's elementary school and an all-girls’ high school. When the family moved to Toronto, Agnes attended Loretto Business College, where she received training as a stenographer and bookkeeper. For three years, she was employed as a stenographer for W.Y. Lloyd Lumber Co. while taking night classes in business courses and high school credits. For the six months before she entered, Agnes worked as a stenographer for the vice-president of a wholesale drug company.

In February 1928, she entered with Mary Quinn, Mary Fitzmaurice and Mary Rodgers as the first novices to enter the newly-opened novitiate at 60 Glen Road. She took first vows on October 15, 1929 and final vows in Edson. Using her stenographic skills, Sister Hearn became Fr. George Daly’s secretary for several months until November 1929. Travelling west to the Edmonton residence (1929-1932), she served as cook, housekeeper, and greeter of trains as immigrants arrived in the evenings.

Sister Hearn received a series of appointments in the community's residence/hostels in Montreal (1932, 1938; 1952-1956); Halifax (1932-1933; 1979-1980); Toronto (1933-1934; 1949-1952; 1956-1962) and Winnipeg (1934-1938). In ill health, she recuperated at the Motherhouse (1938-1939). Sister Hearn also served appointments in the catechetical houses of Edmonton (1932-1935; 1940-1942; 1963-1969) and Regina (1939-1940; 1942-1947; 1974-1975). For catechetical assignments at the religious correspondence schools, she corrected students' correspondence lessons in the winter and visited the isolated rural communities to teach religion during the summer. For one year (1962-1963), Sister Hearn was appointed as the dietary supervisor at St. John’s Hospital in Edson, AB.

Sister Hearn joined the staff of St. Paul the Apostle parish in the western perimeter of Winnipeg. In that position, she became the first catechetical co-ordinator in the Archdiocese of Winnipeg. Organizing religion program from grades 1-10, she also established a junior choir and youth club. Following a year of travel and rest (1974-1975), she resumed catechetical work in Regina and accepted an assignment to open a new mission in Newfoundland. In June 1975, Sister Hearn and Sister Madge Barton established a religious correspondence school in Clarenville for the Newfoundland diocese of Grand Falls. As an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, Sister Hearn held her own liturgical service in mission churches.

In June 1980, Sister Hearn joined the retired Sisters at Niagara Retirement Manor, St. Catharines, Ontario, where also she volunteered as a vocation animator in 1983. Back at Toronto, she also lived in Scarborough Court (1989-2005) and LaSalle Manor (2005-2006). Sister Hearn suffered a stroke and died at LaSalle Manor on April 22, 2006. The wake service and Mass of Christian Burial with Fr. Paul Tinguely of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg as the main celebrant were held in the chapel of LaSalle Manor. Her body was buried in the community's plot at Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.

Created by F Rousselle June 25, 2025.
Revised by F Rousselle June 27, 2025.

Biographical sketch adapted for brevity from complete biography written by SOS congregational archivist MC Havey.