Gwendoline Dooley

Sister Gwendoline Therese Dooley RSJ (1935 – 4 July 2015), commonly known as Sr Gwen Dooley and formerly Sr M Gabrielle of the Annunciation, was an Australian Roman Catholic religious sister, educator and pastoral worker of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She taught and worked in Catholic communities throughout Tasmania for nearly sixty years. She belonged to the final generation of Josephite teachers and principals associated with the transition from religious to lay leadership in Tasmanian Catholic schools.

Early life

Gwendoline Therese Dooley was born in Tasmania in 1935, the youngest daughter of James and Geraldine Dooley of Devonport. She was educated at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Devonport, where she was taught by the Sisters of St Joseph.

She was a great-great-granddaughter of Tasmanian politician James Monaghan Dooley.

Religious life

At the age of 18, Dooley entered the novitiate of the Sisters of St Joseph at New Town in April 1953.

Transition in Catholic education Dooley belonged to the final generation of Josephite educators in Tasmania during the transition from religious to lay staffing and leadership in Catholic schools. The official history of Sacred Heart Catholic School, Geeveston records that she was the last Sister of St Joseph to teach at the school, retiring at the end of 1991.

Following her teaching ministry, Sr Gwen worked in parish, spirituality and pastoral roles. From 1998 she served in Moonah parish, at the Sisters of St Joseph Spirituality Centre at MacKillop Hill, Forth, and at St Marys on Tasmania's east coast before returning to Moonah to work at the Emmanuel Centre.

Death

Sr Gwen Dooley died on 4 July 2015 in Hobart. After a Mass of Christian Burial at Sacred Heart Church, New Town, she was buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery.

In his eulogy, Emeritus Archbishop Adrian Doyle gave thanks for her "generous and bright spirit", her dedication to family and congregation, and her service to the Tasmanian Catholic community.