Sister Joan McKeon

Sister Joan McKeon, formerly Sister Mary Estelle, age 87, died peacefully on May 11 at McAuley
Hall Health Care Center in Watchung, New Jersey. The daughter of James and Estelle Jacoby
McKeon, both now deceased, Sister Joan was born in Philadelphia, PA. and grew up in Camden,
New Jersey. She attended Sacred Heart Elementary School and Camden Catholic High School,
Camden, New Jersey. Following graduation from high school, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in
1954.
Her Bachelor’s Degree was in English, earned from Georgian Court College, now University, and
her Master’s Degree, in English and English as a Second Language, from Kean College, NJ. Her
early years were as an elementary teacher in St. Mary School, South Amboy, St. Joseph School,
Bound Brook, St. John School, Paulsboro, and then as a high school teacher at Notre Dame High
School, Lawrenceville. She later moved to Mount St. Mary Academy in Watchung, NJ to serve as the
Director of Admissions. Sister Joan said, “In this capacity, I met many boarding students whose
homes were in South America or Asia. Here is where I began my interest in all things Asian.” It was
this interest that led her to become an ESL teacher and to pursue the opportunity to work with
refugees, which she did as a member of the Camden Diocesan Resettlement Staff. After spending a
year as an ESL teacher at the Jesuit Refugee School in Thailand, she returned to Mount St. Mary
Academy as Director of Admissions, and then spent eight years as an ESL teacher in Jersey City.
Sister Joan spent her final years at McAuley Hall Health Care Center in Watchung, NJ. She lived and
died faithful to the motto she chose at her profession: Dieu Seul Suffi (God Alone Suffices).
Visitation will take place at McAuley Hall Health Care Center, 1633 Highway 22, Watchung, NJ on
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Wake 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Prayer and Sharing of Memories – 10:00 a.m.
Funeral Liturgy – 11:00 a.m.
Burial will be in Holy Redeemer Cemetery, South Plainfield, NJ at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 20
Memorial donations may be made to Sisters of Mercy, 1645 US Highway 22, Watchung, NJ 07069.

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