The Maryvale Alumnae Association is delighted to honor Sr. Patricia Loome, SNDdeN '62 as Alumna of the Year 2026.
Sr. Patricia graduated from Maryvale Trinity College Preparatory School in 1962 in a class with 30 girls. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1962 and pursued a B.A. degree at Trinity College, now Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C. Sr. Patricia continued her education by obtaining two master’s degrees at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA and the other at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Since education is the ministry of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Sr. Patricia was an educator for many years. In her late twenties, she was sent to Kenya and served for twenty years as both a high school teacher and Head of School. She also served in a leadership role in a Catholic health system in northeast Georgia for over eleven years. Sr. Patricia has held other leadership roles in the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur congregation, including the recent completion of a five-year term on the leadership team of the Ohio Province.
Sr. Patricia says, “Maryvale provided me with the necessary academic background to continue to higher education as well as supporting and encouraging the confidence needed to take on leadership roles in my life and ministry. Although Maryvale had a very small student body in comparison to its size today, we did not lack the quality and scope of education and opportunities to participate in activities. As a small school, we received individual attention and encouragement. That was a great benefit for me personally.”
Sr. Patricia served with joy on the Maryvale Board of Trustees from1997-2004 and again from 2018-2025. As a member of the Board of Trustees, she has watched Maryvale continue to grow and develop into an excellent school. But more importantly, a school that continues to instill in its students the mission of St. Julie Billiart to show in their lives that indeed “God is Good.”
