Our beloved Sister Regina Brennan, longtime educator at Saint Raphael Academy, passed away on April 8, 2026.
“To say that she was the heart of our school is an understatement,” said Dan Richard, principal and head of school. “There was no more important figure – not only to faculty and staff but to hundreds of students. It is a great loss to the school community.”
Sister Regina was a member of the Sisters of Mercy and took vows on September 8, 1960. She arrived at Saint Raphael Academy in 1978, and she never left. She taught theology and counseled more than four decades of students (including nearly every one of our alumni faculty and staff). Sister officially retired from Saints in June 2022, but she dropped in from time to time to check in on her friends here.
“She always remembered what seat I was in on my first day in theology class. It is a tribute to her that she took the time to connect with her students. It is a reflection on her that, here it is 50 years later, and she still remembered that. It showed how special teaching was to her,” said Ron Dalton ’79, director of advancement.
In Sister Regina’s first year at SRA, she helped create and organize ECHO (Encountering Christ in Others), an annual weekend-long retreat for seniors designed for them to experience the need/acknowledgement for Christ in their individual lives and see Christ in the lives of others. That tradition still goes on to this day.
She received the Lumen Gentium Award from Diocese of Providence in 2013. In 2022, the guidance center was dedicated in her name and in recognition of her many years of service at Saints.
She was a bright light on campus, always greeting everyone with a smile. Her best advice was: “You never know what it is like at someone else’s breakfast table,” encouraging kindness and understanding for others’ situations that may not be easily seen.
We prayerfully keep her family and many, many friends in our hearts.
Sister Regina’s funeral Mass will be held Saturday, April 11, 2026, at St. Joseph’s Church in Pawtucket. Additional details are on the funeral home website.
