Sister Anne E. Patrick died July 21, 2016 at her home in Silver Spring, Maryland, after a valiant battle with cancer. She was 75 years old. Professor Patrick was the William H. Laird Professor of Religion and the Liberal Arts, Emerita, taught at Carleton from 1980–2009. She earned her B.A. at Medaille College, her M.A. at the University of Maryland, and her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. During her time at Carleton, she taught courses on Roman Catholic traditions, religion and literature, Christian ethics, and feminist and liberation theologies. Anne was the first woman to receive tenure in the Religion Department at Carleton.
Professor Patrick gave the Honors Convocation address on Friday, June 5, 2009 as part of her celebratory retirement events with a talk titled “On Being Unfinished (De Imperfectione).” Anne was a member of the sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and remained active in Catholic issues. She was past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA), and was also a founding vice-president of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology. In 2013, she was chosen by CTSA as the recipient of the John Courtney Murray Award. Anne is the author of Liberating Conscience: Feminist Explorations in Catholic Moral Theology (1997), Women, Conscience, and the Creative Process (2011) and Conscience and Calling: Ethical Reflections on Catholic Women’s Church Vocations (2013).
Anne Patrick was courageous in her battle with breast cancer with recurrences during the past decade, yet remained devoted to her academia work. In February 2016, she presented at Santa Clara University at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at the conference on conscience and Catholic health care — “The Rhetoric of Conscience: Co-optation, Conversion, and Catholic Health Care.” She will be remembered by many of her former students and colleagues for her personal integrity, scholarly work, compassion, wisdom, service to her order and her vigilance in improving the position of women in the Catholic church.
A Memorial Mass was held on September 10, 2016 in Washington, D.C. at the Annunciation Catholic Church. Cards may be sent to Anne’s family through one of her sisters, Mary Patrick, 4303 Carriage Ct., Kensington, MD 20895.
Remembrances of Anne may be written at the Carleton Farewells website.
Carleton College held a memorial service for Anne Patrick on October 29, 2016 in the Carleton Skinner Chapel.