Sister Eileen Houlihan, IHM, age 102, died Monday, March 10, surrounded by her IHM family in Monroe.
Born Oct. 26, 1922, to Simon and Marie (Beck) Houlihan, infant Phyllis Eileen was one of eight children. The children attended St. Mary of Redford schools, where Phyllis graduated in 1940. That summer, she entered the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Monroe), and received the religious name Sister Mary Gael. Her sisters Kathleen and Lois, as well as many cousins, also entered religious life.
Sister Eileen earned bachelor’s degrees in music and the arts from Marygrove College and a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Music and voice related instruction was a focus of Sister Eileen’s early teaching ministry at St. Matthew, Detroit, St. Mary Academy, Monroe, St. Patrick, Wyandotte and St. Michael in Miami, Florida. Theology was added into her teaching repertoire while assigned during the early days of Marygrove College on the Monroe Campus. From there, she was devoted to the high school students at Immaculata, Detroit and the IHM-sponsored Marian High School, Bloomfield Hills.
During a year at St. Matthew, Detroit, Sister Eileen transitioned out of the classroom and into parish ministry of liturgy, music, prayer, care of the sick and elderly as a Pastoral associate. This took place in the ministries served at St. Mary of Redford (Detroit), Visitation House of Prayer and St. Ann (Monroe), St. John (Howell), St. Stephen (Saginaw), and Our Lady of the Lakes, Harbor Beach, which were the most satisfying of her life.
Sister Eileen also enjoyed a healthy, long retirement among her community at the Motherhouse, Monroe, since 2004. She delighted in spiritual and community events and many friendships among sisters and staff. Only recently did Sister Eileen decline and returned to the health care area under hospice care.
Sister Eileen is survived by her sisters Ruth Ann Neen and Lois Houlihan, fmm, nieces and nephews, and her IHM Sisters in community. She was preceded by siblings Kathleen, IHM; Mary Petras; and Simon, Thomas and Michael Houlihan.
Read Sister Eileen’s Remembering.