Sister Eleanor Mullaley (formerly Sister M. Aquinas), 81, a Sister of Mercy for 61 years, died Thursday, March 28, 2013, after a period of declining health. The daughter of Edward F. and Louise G. (Leveroni) Mullaley, Sister Eleanor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Sister Eleanor held a B.A. degree in history from Mount St. Mary College in Hooksett, New Hampshire, and an M.A. degree in history from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. She pursued doctoral studies in special education/rehabilitation at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
A dedicated educator, Sister Eleanor taught junior high school students at St. Joseph School in Manchester, Sacred Heart in Lebanon, and St. Patrick in Portsmouth, all in New Hampshire. She was also a teacher at St. Ann School in Gloucester, Massachusetts. For a time, she lived in an ecumenical community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and taught at a school for troubled boys.
When she returned to New Hampshire, Sister Eleanor served as director of education at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord. During the 1970s, she was a community organizer with the Granite State Alliance, and was active in the Clamshell Alliance.
During the 1980s, Sister Eleanor taught at New Hampshire College in Manchester. She also served as human resources director at Marian Court College in Swampscott, Massachusetts.
Sister Eleanor is survived by two sisters, Louise Mullaley and Rita Riley, both of Quincy, Massachusetts; two brothers – Joseph Mullaley of Bridgewater, and Robert Mullaley and his wife, Mary, of Amesbury, Massachusetts; several nieces and nephews; and her Mercy community. She was predeceased by three brothers – George, Edward Jr., and Fred Mullaley – and one sister, Agnes Nichols.
A remembrance service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 8, 2013, in Our Lady of Mercy Chapel, Warde Health Center, Windham, New Hampshire. Burial will take place at St. Joseph Cemetery, Bedford, New Hampshire. Memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of Mercy, 21 Searles Road, P.O. Box 420, Windham, NH 03087-0420. Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home, 214 Main St, Salem, NH has care of the arrangements. To send a message of condolence, please view the obituary at www.douglasandjohnson.com