Rose Mary Kavanaugh

Rose Mary Kavanaugh died Monday, September 5, 2016 at St. Paul Hermitage, Beech Grove, IN. She was 96. Rose was born November 16, 1919, at home on the family farm near Cannelburg, IN. She was the eleventh and youngest child of John and Mary E. “Mayme” (O’Connor) Kavanaugh. According to family lore, she weighed only 1.5 lbs. at birth. She was called “Pee Wee” by her siblings, who would put her in a shoe box, tie a string to it, and pull her around the house. She was graduated from St. Theresa High School in Detroit, MI, in 1938. In 1939, Rose entered the Benedictine Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, IN, and received the religious name Sister Rosemond. In 1950, Rose was graduated from St. Benedict College in Ferdinand, with a Bachelor of Science degree in education; in 1968, she received a Master of Science degree in education, with a concentration in guidance and counseling, from St. Francis College in Fort Wayne, IN. In 1955, Sister Rosemond became one of the 113 foundresses of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, IN. While a Sister, Rose taught school for many years in southern Indiana and in Indianapolis at St. Pius X School, where she was principal, and at St. Barnabas School. In 1972, she requested and received release from her religious vows. After leaving the monastery, she was employed as a social worker at Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center in West Indianapolis. Rose once said that her work at the neighborhood center was one of the most satisfying times of her life and that it gave her a great appreciation for the blessings she had received in her own life. In 1980, she returned to teaching and spent the next decade at St. Jude School in Indianapolis. She retired in 1990 at the age of 70. In retirement, Rose served for several years as a substitute teacher and gave private tutoring lessons. Prior to, and following, retirement, she was a very active volunteer at her parish of St. Barnabas, where she was involved in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and served as a catechist in the parish’s grade school religious education program. Preceding her in death were her parents and her 10 siblings: Timothy, Vincent, Albert, Marie (Benedictine Sister Bernice of Monastery Immaculate Conception), Harry, Bernard, Louis, Frank, Catherine, and Josephine ( Benedictine Sister Mary Charlotte, also of Monastery Immaculate Conception). Sister Bernice lived to be 102 years old, Harry was 99 years old at the time of his death in 2006, and Sister Mary Charlotte was 98 years old when she died in 2014. Rose is survived by numerous nieces and nephews, and hundreds of former pupils. Friends may call at Daniel F. O’Riley Funeral Home, 6107 S. East St. (US Hwy 31 South), Indianapolis, on Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, September 9, 2016, at 11 a.m. in St. Barnabas Catholic Church, 8300 Rahke Road, Indianapolis, with calling at the church beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Indianapolis. Friends may share condolences at orileyfuneralhome.com. Memorial gifts may be made to Catholic Charities Indianapolis, 1400 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46202; the Sisters of St. Benedict of Beech Grove, IN, Our Lady of Grace Monastery, 1402 Southern Ave., Beech Grove, IN 46107; or the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, IN, Monastery Immaculate Conception, 802 E. 10th St., Ferdinand, IN 47532.