Obituary of Sr. Genevieve James

Sr Genevieve James, 1920-2017 Dominican Nun James, Sister Genevieve, OP 96, died on March 20 at St John’s Hospital in Springfield, IL. Sister was born in Newark, NJ on June 15, 1920. She is predeceased by her parents, and two brothers. As a young child she developed polio which curtailed her lifestyle, but didn’t end it. She learned to walk again, becoming an expert ping pong player. With her commercial training, Sister worked as secretary and office manager in several firms in Manhattan, before entering the Dominican Monastery of Corpus Christi in the South Bronx, in early 1949. Here she worked primarily in the maintenance of the large building and grounds. In 1989, Sister transferred to the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, NY, where she so enjoyed the outdoors and surrounding hills, after living for years in the city. She set herself to learned the computer and faithfully took care of our mailing lists. Sister gradually developed post-Polio syndrome which required that she wear heavy braces to walk. She eventually became a patient at St Joseph’s Nursing Home in Elmira. When it was decided to translocate the community to Springfield, IL, Sister came to the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Infirmary for care on September 3, 2014. On the night of March 18 Sister was unable to breathe and was admitted to the hospital, where she died two days later. Friends of the nuns are welcome to visit at Walter J. Kent Funeral Home, 858 Lake St. at Washington Ave., Elmira on Monday, April 24th at 9:30 am, prior to sister’s burial in St. Peter and Paul Cemetery at 10 am.