BVM Sister Eileen McGovern
BVM Sister Eileen McGovern
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BVM Sister Eileen McGovern Obituary
Visitation will be from 9-9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in the Mary Frances Clarke Chapel at Mount Carmel Bluffs. Sharing of Memories will be at 9:30 a.m., followed immediately by the Mass of Christian Burial. Burial is in the Mount Carmel Cemetery. Leonard Funeral Home and Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Rd, Dubuque, Iowa 52003 is in charge of arrangements.
Sister Eileen was a sociology/social work department chair and instructor at Clarke University, a therapist for Spanish speaking clients at Catholic Charities, and a clinical social worker for the Gannon Center for Community Mental Health, all in Dubuque, Iowa. She was a psychiatric social worker for the Dubuque County/Jackson County Mental Health Center, and a school social worker for the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She ministered as a university instructor in Bogotá, Columbia, and Salta, Argentina. She was an elementary teacher at St. Ambrose and St. John in Des Moines, Iowa; Sacred Heart in Lincoln, Nebr.; and St. Paul in San Francisco. She served the congregation as second vice president and pastoral care minister.
She was born on July 18, 1929, in Dubuque, Iowa, to Michael and Leonilla (Wiemold) McGovern. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1947, from St. Matthew Parish, Chicago. She professed first vows on March 19, 1950, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1955.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Virginia McGovern, Mary Ann (Charles) Roth, and Rose Marie Davidsaver; brothers: James and William (Barbara) McGovern; and brother-in-law Christian Davidsaver.
She is survived by nieces; nephews; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 78 years.
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2595 Rockdale Rd, Dubuque, IA 52003
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