Sister Agnes Clare Buckley

Sister Agnes Clare was born Phyllis Marie Buckley on February 9, 1937. She died on September 23, 2017. She was 80 years old and had been a Sister of Providence for 61 years.

Sister Agnes Clare entered the Congregation on February 2, 1956. She professed first and final vows on August 15, 1958 and 1963, respectively.

She graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College with a bachelor’s degree in education.

She ministered as a teacher for 42 years in schools in Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts. Her first teaching ministry took place at Our Lady of Sorrows in 1960. She also ministered as a teacher at St. Rose in Chelsea, Massachusetts, from 1971 to 2009.

She was the first woman to undergo a heart transplant, which took place in 1989. She was also the longest-living heart transplant survivor.