Catherine (Kit) Collins

Birth: April 14, 1937
Profession: July 20, 1966
Death: March 18, 2010

Catherine “Kit” Collins, RSCJ, social justice advocate, international education consultant, and digital pioneer, died March 18, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

Sister Collins was born April 14, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents, both deceased, were James Francis Collins and Esther McCafferty Collins; she is survived by her brothers George Collins, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Joseph Collins, of Melbourne, Florida, and by her sister, Paula Collins Mazzio, of Needham, Massachusetts.

Since 1984, Sister Collins has served as director of the Center for Educational Design and Communication (CEDC) in Washington, providing educational and communications support to groups seeking social justice. CEDC clients have included the National Catholic Education Association, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Catholic Charities, and the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Sister Collins served as national coordinator for Sacred Heart schools from 1972 to 1984 and was responsible for drafting the language that ultimately became the Goals and Criteria ™ adopted by all members of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States.

She chaired the Society of the Sacred Heart International Education Commission from 1985 to 1988 and was an educational consultant for the Society in New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Malta, the Philippines, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, and Egypt. She was fluent in French.

Sister Collins earlier served as headmistress at Stone Ridge Academy of the Sacred Heart in Washington and as curriculum director at Eden Hall Academy of the Sacred Heart in Philadelphia. She was also a trustee of Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in Michigan.

She earned a B.A. Psychology, an M.A. in Education, and a masters degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York.

Sister Collin’s religious life in the Society of the Sacred Heart began at the Kenwood novitiate in Albany, New York, on September 7, 1958. She made her first vows March 20, 1960, and was professed on July 20, 1966.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, a viewing will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. at the CEDC, 821 Varnum Street, NE, Washington, followed by a Liturgy of the Resurrection in the CEDC Chapel at 11 a.m. Interment at St. Mary’s Cemetery will follow the liturgy.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Society of the Sacred Heart, 4120 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108.

Please feel free to add comments below or at the CEDC site.

Additional information

• Eulogy for Catherine (Kit) Collins, by Anne Dyer
• Intentions from the Liturgy (Kit Collins)