Biegen

Sister Alice Melchior Biegen, R.S.H.M.

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Sister Alice Melchior Biegen, R.S.H.M., who served as a teacher and later ministered to the homeless, died June 15 at Marymount Convent in Tarrytown. She was 78.

She began serving the homeless in 1984, working with South East Bronx Community Organization, 1984-1988, and the Office of Neighborhood Preservation, 1988-1998. In 1998, she founded Columba Kavanagh House Inc., which provides permanent supportive housing for homeless single adults with a history of mental illness and substance abuse.

She served as provincial treasurer of the Eastern American Province of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, 1976-1982.

She taught at Gerard School, Manhattan, 1953-1960, and before that in Sag Harbor. Missioned to Colombia, she taught at Marymount schools in Medellin and Barranquilla.

She also taught at Marymount School, Manhattan, 1967-1976, and served in the business office there, 1982-1984.

Born in New York City, she entered the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary in 1949 and made final vows in 1956.

She held a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Marymount College and a master’s in business administration from Fordham University.

She is survived by her sister, Sister Alice Biegen, R.S.H.M.; her stepmother, Margaret Biegen; and her stepsister, Maureen Donovan.

A Funeral Mass was offered June 18 at Marymount Convent. Burial was at Mount Calvary Cemetery, White Plains.

Sister Alice Melchior Biegen, R.S.H.M.