Sr. Catherine Burke S.E.J. (Mary Kevin)

Peacefully on Friday, February 6, 2026, Sister Catherine died on her 84th birthday surrounded by her family.

Catherine was born February 6, 1942, to John Burke and Catherine Hussey in Derryvoung, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon, Ireland where she grew up.

She entered the Sisters of the Child of Jesus in Sherbrooke, QC on September 4, 1960. She took the Holy Habit on April 15, 1961, and was given the name Sister Mary Kevin. She made first vows July 10, 1963, and final vows August 13, 1968.

Catherine studied at Notre Dame University in Nelson, BC where she graduated with her BEd in 1975 and her BA in1978. She taught at St. Mary’s Vancouver, at Bishop Murray in Saskatoon and at St. Mary’s in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. In 1979, Catherine moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where she studied nursing at Misericordia Hospital, from 1981-1983.

In 1983 Catherine returned to North Vancouver where she nursed and continued her studies. She obtained her BSN in 1992 from UBC. Her nursing career spanned the years 1984-2006 when she nursed at Evergreen Extended Care and Lion’s Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. Many of those years were spent on 7 West and palliative care. On December 31, 2006, Catherine retired from nursing.

Her final wish, to die at home and be buried with her family, was granted. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, she flew home to Ireland with her niece where she died peacefully on February 6, 2026, at Roscommon Hospice.

Sr. Catherine will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her family both in Ireland and Canada. Her brother John Joe (Derryvoung), the Sisters of the Child Jesus (Canada), with whom she shared her life for sixty-six years. Also, by her sister-in-law Maura, her nieces and nephews: John, Cathy, Gerard, Anne, Sean, Tommy, Kathleen, Gerald, Raymond, Mark and Michelle, grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, extended family, neighbours and friends both in Ireland and Canada.

May Her Gentle Soul Rest in Peace