Mary E. Foley

FOLEY, Mary E. “Sis” of Norwood, May 9, 2011. Devoted daughter of the late Coleman and Mary (O’Toole) Foley. Loving sister of Matthew “Bud” Foley and his wife Margaret of Franklin and Margaret “Peg” DeShiro of Attleborough and the late Coleman, John, Vincent , Thomas and Catherine Foley. Dear sister in law of Mary Rose Foley of Plymouth. A loving aunt to many nieces and nephews and a dear friend to all she knew. Funeral from the Gillooly Funeral Home, 126 Walpole St., (Rt. 1A) NORWOOD Thurs. May 12 at 8 AM followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Catherine of Siena Church at Norwood at 9 AM. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment private. The family will receive visitors at the Funeral Home Wed. May 11, 4-8 PM. Donations in memory of Mary may be made to Mt. St. Joseph Academy, 637 Cambridge St., Brighton, MA, 02135. Mary graduated from St. Catherine School and Mt. St. Joseph Academy. As a member of Sister of St. Joseph from 1945 – 1974 she earned her A.B. and Ph.D in Psychology at Catholic University in Washington, DC. While in the CSJ community she taught in St. James, Haverhill, St. Agnes, Arlington and Cathedral High, Boston. After leaving the CSJ community in 1974, she was a professor at Regis College and also worked with the Psychology/Psychiatry staff at Boston City Hospital. During the 1980’s she began to consult and lecture abroad on brain behavior and treatment issues. Mary was a member of the American Psychological Assoc, Society of Sigma Xi, Mass. Neuropsychological Soc., National Register of Health Services Providers in Psychology and licensed by the Mass. Board of Registration of Psychologists. She is also listed in Who’s Who of American Women in Science. Mary loved traveling to Ireland, reading, music and cross country skiing. She lived life to the fullest always enjoying family and friends. A spiritual, loving, compassionate, empathetic woman, who will be greatly missed by all those whose lives she has touched. Her love for family, her Irish heritage, and her everlasting bonds of friendship filled her life with joy. She enjoyed teaching, her professional career, reading books and poetry extensively, listening to music, cross-country skiing and sharing time with friends and family. Whether as a sister, aunt, friend, teacher, she found a way to comfort, support and be there for anyone who was in need. From her Irish parents, family life, and involvement in St. Catherine’s Parish, Norwood, Mary Foley lived within a Catholic faith perspective that has blessed all her days. From her education at St. Catherine’s School and Mount St. Joseph Academy, she was well prepared for future college and graduate learning. As a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph (1945-1974), she earned her A.B. and Ph.D. in Psychology at Catholic University in Washington D.C. While in the CSJ community, she taught in St. James, Haverhill, St. Agnes, Arlington, and Cathedral High, Boston. After earning her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at The Catholic University of America in 1965, she was appointed to the faculty at Regis College as a member of the Psychology Department. Ensuing years brought frequent requests for consultation/presentation on such diverse issues such as inner-city school issues, teaching/parenting deaf children, health and holiness, psychotherapy needs etc. In the late 60’s, early 70’s, during an intense renewal period in the church, many communities of women and men religious in the U.S. and Canada consulted with her on difficult of issues of change: governance, crisis intervention, community living, mental health and the vowed life, etc. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops invited her, during that time also, to membership on Committees of Women in the Church, and National Pastoral Council. After leaving the CSJ community in 1974, she continued teaching at Regis College and also working with the Psychology/Psychiatry staff at Boston City Hospital, where she was a consultant for the formation of the Minority Training Program, and a practicing psychotherapist for individuals and groups in outpatient Psychiatry and Alcoholism/Substance Abuse clinics.

In 1984, she was awarded a fellowship for training in Neuropsychology, and completed the program in 1985, during Sabbatical Leave from Regis. Following that year, she was a consulting neuropsychologist at Jewish Memorial Hospital in Roxbury; Clinical and brain/behavioral issues, as they related to rehabilitation, were central to her evaluations. During the ‘80’s also, she began to consult on the Alzheimer’s unit at St. Patrick’s Manor, Framingham. Her research on brain/behavior/treatment issues focused more there on care-giving issues as they resulted from cognitive deficits in persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Research presentations/publications, with colleagues and/or students at various national and international conferences covered such titles as: Language Function and Agitation in Alzheimer’s Patients, Individualized Behavioral Interventions for Agitated Alzheimer’s Patients: A Pilot Study with Music and Walking, and A Behavioral Neuropsychological Approach: Strategies for the Difficult Geriatric Patient. Underlying her scholarly interests is a commitment to try to understand the language of those with dementia and/or psychological disturbances. Since her early training at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington D.C., and long before that, from her parents’ kind and generous ways, she has felt called to the helping and caring professions. She taught at Regis College and was a co-therapist for an elderly neuropsychiatric group at Boston Medical Center, and had an abiding gratitude for her blessing of faith, family, and friends. Mary Foley was a member of the American Psychological Association, Society of Sigma Xi, Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society, National Register of Health Services Providers in Psychology, and is licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Psychologists. She is also listed in Who’s Who of American Women in Science.