Sister Veronica Brown (Sister Maurice Joseph), 96, beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, died in Mont Marie Health Care Center on October 29, 2014. A native of Holyoke, she was the daughter of Maurice and Nora (Fitzgerald) Brown.
Sr. Veronica entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield in 1937 from Holy Rosary Parish, Holyoke. She graduated from Holy Rosary High School and earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from the College of Our Lady of the Elms, Chicopee, Mass. Sister Veronica pursued additional studies at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester; Seton Hall, Orange, N.J.; American International College, Springfield and Stanstead College, Quebec, Canada.
Teaching assignments for Sr. Veronica, all in Massachusetts, included St. Mary’s, Milford; St. Mary’s, Northampton; Sacred Heart, Holyoke and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Hope, Springfield. She taught at Cathedral High School, Springfield from 1959 to 1993, becoming in 2000 one of the first honorees to receive the St. Joseph Medal for her commitment to Cathedral.
In addition to her Sisters in Community, she is survived by her nieces, Noreen Lagimonier of Holyoke, Kathleen Phillips of So. Yarmouth, Theresa Rivest of Ludlow, Mary Lou Krause of So. Hadley, Marian Kirley of Maryland and several other nieces and nephews and their families. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Dorothy Brown of Holyoke and Stella Brown of Chicopee. She was predeceased by her eight siblings, Sr. Gertrude Brown, SSJ; Mary Clancy; and Francis, Maurice, Vincent, Stephen, Joseph and Thomas Brown.