My sculpture was the best way I could express that God, ever compassionate and kind, is incarnated in the figures I sculpt.

Sister Margaret Beaudette (Sister Marie Gerard) was born March 5, 1928 in Astoria, New York. She was one of three children, two daughters and one son, born to Aldrick and Margaret Doyle Beaudette. Margaret attended Immaculate Conception School, Astoria, and Blessed Sacrament High School and Hunter College, both in Manhattan. She entered the Sisters of Charity of New York on February 1, 1947. Sister received a BA in Art from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and an MFA from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, with a major in sculpture.

While Sister Margaret is well known for her many artistic creations, her early ministry was in education, on the elementary, high school and college levels. After teaching at Saint John the Baptist and Saint Mary Star of the Sea, Brooklyn, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scarsdale, and Saint Barnabas, Bronx, she became the Art teacher at Saint Joseph by-the-Sea HS, Staten Island. From 1969 until 1989 she was head of the Art Department at Elizabeth Seton College, Yonkers, and taught at Saint Athanasius School and the College of Mount Saint Vincent. In 1976, the first dedication of one of Sister Margaret’s sculptures was held at Sacred Heart Church, Manhattan. This was followed by the commission for a bronze statue of Paul the Apostle for Saint Paul’s Church, Manhattan. A bonded bronze sculpture of Elizabeth Ann Seton stands in Boyle Hall at Mount Saint Vincent with additional castings at the College of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ, and the New York Catholic Center, 1011 First Avenue, Manhattan.

Sr. Margaret working on The Sorrowful Mother in 2012.In 1987, Sister Margaret began to work full time as a sculptor. Since that time, her work, which includes more than sixty major statues, can be seen across the United States in hospitals, churches, shrines, and places of burial. In addition, she has sculptures in France, Canada, Bermuda, Haiti, and South Korea. Sister Margaret is the recipient of various awards: the J. Dudley Diggs Award for Sculpture, the Mother Teresa Award from the Saint Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art, and the Seton Legacy of Charity Bicentennial Medal, as one whose life emulates the spirit and mission of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, to name a few.

Sister Margaret once said, “My sculpture was the best way I could express that God, ever compassionate and kind, is incarnated in the figures I sculpt.” Sister Margaret generously shared her talents and creativity with a very appreciative world. She will long be remembered for her giftedness, kindness, a wonderful sense of humor, and her love of life and community. We thank God that we had the opportunity to know you and share life with you, Peggie. May you be warmly welcomed by our loving God whom you served so long and so well for seventy years as a Sister of Charity. Rest in peace, Sister Margaret.

Click here to view Sister Margaret’s funeral mass. 

Date of Death
March 12, 2017

Age
89

Wake
Mount Saint Vincent Convent
Assembly Room
6301 Riverdale Avenue
Bronx, NY 10471
Thursday, March 16, 2017  
2:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Prayer Vigil at 4:30 pm

Mass of Christian Burial
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
(on the campus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent)
Friday, March 17, 2017
11:00 am

Burial
Burial of cremains will take place at a later date.

 

Missions

Diocese of Brooklyn

  • St. John the Baptist, Bklyn
    1948–54, Teacher
  • St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bklyn
    1954–57, Teacher

Archdiocese of New York

  • Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scarsdale
    1957–61, Teacher
  • St. Barnabas, Bronx
    1961–63, Teacher
  • St. Joseph by-the-Sea, Staten Island
    1963–69, Art Teacher
  • Elizabeth Seton College, Yonkers
    1969–89, Art Teacher, Assoc. Prof., Chairperson
  • St. Athanasius, Bronx
    1969–74 Art Teacher, Part-time 
  • College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx
    1969–74, Art Teacher, Part-time
  • DePaul Studio, Mount Saint Vincent
    1987–2017, Sculptor