Sister Amy Hoey
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Sister Amy (formerly M. Amy Xavier) Hoey, 89, a Sister of Mercy for 68 years, died August 14, 2020, at Warde Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Windham, New Hampshire, after a period of declining health. A native of East Boston, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of the late Matthew and Amy (Hamilton) Hoey.
Sister Amy held degrees in English - a B.A. from Emmanuel College in Boston, an M.A. from Boston College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut/Storrs. Her ministry as a Sister of Mercy began in education with teaching in elementary and secondary schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She served as a faculty member of Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, New Hampshire, and as Academic Dean and President. After Mount Saint Mary closed in 1978, she served on the English faculty at St. Anselm College.
In 1980 she was elected President of the Sisters of Mercy of New Hampshire and served six years in that office. Subsequently, she served as Executive Director of the Federation of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas working from the office which was then in Rochester, New York. In 1989 she moved to Washington, D.C., to serve on the Transition Group preparing to establish (in 1991) the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a merger of all the Sisters of Mercy in this country, Latin America, the Caribbean, Guam, and the Philippines. She then served on the first elected leadership team of the Institute. In 1996 she was appointed Project Coordinator at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, staffing the Subcommittee on Lay Ministry which was preparing the document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry. That document was adopted by the bishops' conference in November 2005. As that document was being prepared and after it was adopted, Sister Amy gave numerous presentations and workshops to dioceses and professional ministry groups throughout the country. In 2007 she co-founded and co-directed a program named Companioning the Dying: Opening Fully to Living, a formation program for those who feel called to accompany those who are dying and their caregivers and who wish to explore the impact of that experience on their own lives.
In 2013, Sister Amy returned to New Hampshire where she served as a volunteer with Compassionate Care Hospice. In 2015, she was appointed as Mercy Family Contact for those Sisters of Mercy who are residents at the Warde Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Sister Amy was a member of the National Association for Lay Ministry, Network, the New Hampshire Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and the Faith Initiative Committee.
Sister Amy, a strong, kind, loving, spiritual, and outgoing woman, brought all these gifts to her life and ministry as a Sister of Mercy.
Sister Amy is survived by the members of her Mercy Community, and her much-loved nephews Matthew III, William, Joseph, David, and Daniel Hoey and their families. She was predeceased by her brother Matthew Hoey, Jr.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, August 29, 2020, at 11 a.m., at St. Matthew Church, 2 Searles Road, Windham, New Hampshire. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery, Bedford, New Hampshire.
Memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of Mercy-Northeast, 15 Highland View Road, Cumberland, RI 02864-1124, and online at www.sistersofmercy.org/northeast.
The Carrier Family Funeral Home, 38 Range Rd, Windham, NH, has care of Sister Amy's arrangements. To send a message of condolence to the family or the community, please view the obituary at www.carrierfuneralhome.com