Sister Melvina L. Bennett, SSND
First Profession August 5, 1984
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Melvina Leatrice Bennett of Towson, MD, entered into eternal rest on Monday, July 23, 2007. She was a beloved member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, dear daughter of Lee J. Bennett, Sr., and the late Josephine W. Bennett, Rosetta Chavis Bennett, and granddaughter of the late Sarah B. Chavis. Survived by her siblings: LaVerne S. Bennett, Clarice Lemon (Harold), Lee J. Bennett (Cathy) and Stephanie E. Reid (Kenneth). Predeceased by her sister, Myra L. Jackson. Also survived by a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
(Charleston Post & Courier on 7/26/2007 courtesy of Tonya Sapp Hames)
Sister Melvina L. Bennett, whose work with poor women and families won her the respect and admiration of her peers in the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of complications from cancer July 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 64.
Born in Charleston, S.C., to Lee James Bennett and Rosetta Chavis Bennett, she was raised a Baptist but converted to Roman Catholicism while attending college at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.
Her mother died when she was 7, and she and her younger sister, LaVerne, were left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Sarah Chavis. Three years later, their father remarried and the family reunited, growing to include three more sisters and a brother.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Hampton Institute in 1964, Sister Melvina came to Baltimore to take a job as a caseworker assistant with the city's Department of Social Services.
Sister Melvina would later recount that she arrived in Baltimore with "65 dollars, self determination and a prayer that she would be able to survive these new and strange surroundings."
She earned a master's degree in social work from Howard University in 1968 and held administrative and managerial positions in the city's Social Services Department.
Sister Melvina, then a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Northwood, was in her late 30s when she entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1981.
Sister Melvina spent four years doing social service work at Sacred Heart School in Tampa, Fla., before returning to Baltimore in 1987 as parent liaison and family services coordinator for the Head Start program sponsored at St. Veronica's Church in Cherry Hill.
Since 1994, she had been assistant director of the Marian House in Waverly, a program that helps women make the transition from homelessness, prison or drug dependency to stable and productive lives.
(Baltimore Sun, July 30, 2007)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
First Profession August 5, 1984
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Melvina Leatrice Bennett of Towson, MD, entered into eternal rest on Monday, July 23, 2007. She was a beloved member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, dear daughter of Lee J. Bennett, Sr., and the late Josephine W. Bennett, Rosetta Chavis Bennett, and granddaughter of the late Sarah B. Chavis. Survived by her siblings: LaVerne S. Bennett, Clarice Lemon (Harold), Lee J. Bennett (Cathy) and Stephanie E. Reid (Kenneth). Predeceased by her sister, Myra L. Jackson. Also survived by a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
(Charleston Post & Courier on 7/26/2007 courtesy of Tonya Sapp Hames)
Sister Melvina L. Bennett, whose work with poor women and families won her the respect and admiration of her peers in the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of complications from cancer July 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 64.
Born in Charleston, S.C., to Lee James Bennett and Rosetta Chavis Bennett, she was raised a Baptist but converted to Roman Catholicism while attending college at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.
Her mother died when she was 7, and she and her younger sister, LaVerne, were left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Sarah Chavis. Three years later, their father remarried and the family reunited, growing to include three more sisters and a brother.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Hampton Institute in 1964, Sister Melvina came to Baltimore to take a job as a caseworker assistant with the city's Department of Social Services.
Sister Melvina would later recount that she arrived in Baltimore with "65 dollars, self determination and a prayer that she would be able to survive these new and strange surroundings."
She earned a master's degree in social work from Howard University in 1968 and held administrative and managerial positions in the city's Social Services Department.
Sister Melvina, then a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Northwood, was in her late 30s when she entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1981.
Sister Melvina spent four years doing social service work at Sacred Heart School in Tampa, Fla., before returning to Baltimore in 1987 as parent liaison and family services coordinator for the Head Start program sponsored at St. Veronica's Church in Cherry Hill.
Since 1994, she had been assistant director of the Marian House in Waverly, a program that helps women make the transition from homelessness, prison or drug dependency to stable and productive lives.
(Baltimore Sun, July 30, 2007)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
Sister Melvina L. Bennett, SSND
First Profession August 5, 1984
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Melvina Leatrice Bennett of Towson, MD, entered into eternal rest on Monday, July 23, 2007. She was a beloved member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, dear daughter of Lee J. Bennett, Sr., and the late Josephine W. Bennett, Rosetta Chavis Bennett, and granddaughter of the late Sarah B. Chavis. Survived by her siblings: LaVerne S. Bennett, Clarice Lemon (Harold), Lee J. Bennett (Cathy) and Stephanie E. Reid (Kenneth). Predeceased by her sister, Myra L. Jackson. Also survived by a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
(Charleston Post & Courier on 7/26/2007 courtesy of Tonya Sapp Hames)
Sister Melvina L. Bennett, whose work with poor women and families won her the respect and admiration of her peers in the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of complications from cancer July 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 64.
Born in Charleston, S.C., to Lee James Bennett and Rosetta Chavis Bennett, she was raised a Baptist but converted to Roman Catholicism while attending college at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.
Her mother died when she was 7, and she and her younger sister, LaVerne, were left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Sarah Chavis. Three years later, their father remarried and the family reunited, growing to include three more sisters and a brother.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Hampton Institute in 1964, Sister Melvina came to Baltimore to take a job as a caseworker assistant with the city's Department of Social Services.
Sister Melvina would later recount that she arrived in Baltimore with "65 dollars, self determination and a prayer that she would be able to survive these new and strange surroundings."
She earned a master's degree in social work from Howard University in 1968 and held administrative and managerial positions in the city's Social Services Department.
Sister Melvina, then a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Northwood, was in her late 30s when she entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1981.
Sister Melvina spent four years doing social service work at Sacred Heart School in Tampa, Fla., before returning to Baltimore in 1987 as parent liaison and family services coordinator for the Head Start program sponsored at St. Veronica's Church in Cherry Hill.
Since 1994, she had been assistant director of the Marian House in Waverly, a program that helps women make the transition from homelessness, prison or drug dependency to stable and productive lives.
(Baltimore Sun, July 30, 2007)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
First Profession August 5, 1984
Motherhouse
Baltimore, Maryland
Sister Melvina Leatrice Bennett of Towson, MD, entered into eternal rest on Monday, July 23, 2007. She was a beloved member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, dear daughter of Lee J. Bennett, Sr., and the late Josephine W. Bennett, Rosetta Chavis Bennett, and granddaughter of the late Sarah B. Chavis. Survived by her siblings: LaVerne S. Bennett, Clarice Lemon (Harold), Lee J. Bennett (Cathy) and Stephanie E. Reid (Kenneth). Predeceased by her sister, Myra L. Jackson. Also survived by a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
(Charleston Post & Courier on 7/26/2007 courtesy of Tonya Sapp Hames)
Sister Melvina L. Bennett, whose work with poor women and families won her the respect and admiration of her peers in the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of complications from cancer July 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 64.
Born in Charleston, S.C., to Lee James Bennett and Rosetta Chavis Bennett, she was raised a Baptist but converted to Roman Catholicism while attending college at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.
Her mother died when she was 7, and she and her younger sister, LaVerne, were left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Sarah Chavis. Three years later, their father remarried and the family reunited, growing to include three more sisters and a brother.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Hampton Institute in 1964, Sister Melvina came to Baltimore to take a job as a caseworker assistant with the city's Department of Social Services.
Sister Melvina would later recount that she arrived in Baltimore with "65 dollars, self determination and a prayer that she would be able to survive these new and strange surroundings."
She earned a master's degree in social work from Howard University in 1968 and held administrative and managerial positions in the city's Social Services Department.
Sister Melvina, then a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Northwood, was in her late 30s when she entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1981.
Sister Melvina spent four years doing social service work at Sacred Heart School in Tampa, Fla., before returning to Baltimore in 1987 as parent liaison and family services coordinator for the Head Start program sponsored at St. Veronica's Church in Cherry Hill.
Since 1994, she had been assistant director of the Marian House in Waverly, a program that helps women make the transition from homelessness, prison or drug dependency to stable and productive lives.
(Baltimore Sun, July 30, 2007)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
