Aston, PA—Sister Evelyn Cahill, OSF, 85, (formerly Sister Marie Philomene) died in Assisi House on March 2. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 63 years. Sister Evelyn was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, where she was a member of St. Joseph Parish. She entered the congregation in 1951 and professed her first vows in 1953. Sister Evelyn ministered primarily in domestic work in the convents where she lived and in caring for children in orphanages in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Since 2008 she has served in prayer ministry in Assisi House in Aston, Pennsylvania. Her sister, Sister Ann Cahill, also entered the congregation and currently serves in prayer ministry in St. Ann Convent in Tacoma, Washington.
Sister Evelyn ministered for 35 years in the Diocese of Trenton. From 1958-1964 she cared for the children living at St. Michael Home in Hopewell and from 1989-2008 volunteered at St. Francis Medical Center. Over her years in the diocese, she engaged in domestic work in the convents where she lived: St. Mary of the Lakes in Medford, St. Rose of Lima in Freehold, and Blessed Sacrament in Trenton.
During Sister Evelyn’s years of ministry in the Diocese of Fall River (1964-1968 and again from 1975-1977), she ministered at St. Mary Children’s Home in New Bedford.
Sister Evelyn also ministered for eight years in the Diocese of Metuchen. She lived at St. Augustine Convent in Kendall Park where she ministered as a cook and also assisted in both the kindergarten and the CCD Office.
Additional ministry experience took Sister Evelyn to the Archdiocese of Boston where she worked at Our Lady of the Assumption Convent in Lynnfield and Holy Trinity Convent in Boston. In the Diocese of Camden, she ministered at St. Nicholas Convent in Egg Harbor. Moving further south to the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Wilmington, Sister Evelyn worked at St. Joseph Medical Center Convent in Baltimore and in St. Patrick Convent in Wilmington, Delaware.
All services will be held in Assisi House, 600 Red Hill Road, Aston, Pennsylvania, 19014 on Wednesday, March 9. A Christian Wake Service will be held at 9:30 A.M. followed by viewing. The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 A.M. Burial will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Aston. In addition to Sister Ann Cahill, Sister Evelyn is survived by her sister, Clare Sonnett, her nieces and nephews, and by her Franciscan family. Donations in her name can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Road, Aston, PA 19014.
