Sister of Charity, teacher, was 87 years old

Sister Eileen Regina Leonard, a longtime teacher and Sister of Charity, died on March 7 at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She was 87 years old.

Ms. Leonard began her teaching career at Visitation School, where she taught grades six through eight, from 1947 to 1949.

Ms. Leonard taught Spanish, algebra, social studies and religion at Saint Barnabas High School, on East 240th Street, from 1949 to 1963. She worked at Cathedral High School in Manhattan for 42 years. She taught Spanish and chaired the Spanish and Modern Languages Department. She also founded the school’s award-winning marching band. In 2009, the Cathedral Band escorted the Sisters of Charity of New York up Fifth Avenue in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

In 2000, Ms. Leonard was awarded the Elizabeth Ann Seton Compassionate Educator Award, the highest honor given to teachers by the Archdiocesan Department of Education.

“Throughout her teaching ministry, Sr. Eileen was interested in every student’s well-being and she kept in touch with many of them through her life,” Christine Haggerty, Director of Communications at Sisters of Charity of New York, said in a statement.

Ms. Leonard had a bachelor’s in English from Hunter College and a master’s in Spanish from Fordham University. She retired in 2005 but stayed active in her parish in Rego Park, Queens, where she lived for the past eight years.

Ms. Leonard was buried at Calvary Cemetery on March 12.

She is survived by her brother, Rev. John Leonard, and her sister, Marion Ryan. She was predeceased by her parents, Michael and Ellen Graham Leonard, and her brother, Francis Leonard.