Sister Grace was an excellent teacher and nurse, known for her kindness, compassion, and marvelous sense of humor.
Sister Grace Henke (Sister Mary Adrienne) was born February 24, 1932, in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Eugene and Frances Adrienne Le Merle Henke. Grace attended Blessed Sacrament School in the Bronx and Cathedral High School, Manhattan, and worked for a year before entering the Sisters of Charity of New York on September 8, 1951. Sister Adrienne received a Nursing Diploma from Saint Vincent Hospital School of Nursing, a BS in Nursing and an MS in Medical/Surgical Nursing from Hunter College and a Doctor of Education in Nursing Research from Columbia University. New York State granted her a permanent Nursing License.
Sister Grace has ministered in the field of nursing and nursing education since she first began her studies at Saint Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1954. For her first seven years at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, she ministered on the wards as a Student Nurse, Staff Nurse, Assistant Head Nurse and the Relief Night Supervisor. After receiving her nursing degrees, Sister Grace began thirty-six years as an instructor in Saint Vincent’s School of Nursing, teaching topics such as microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and medical physics. She initiated a bioethics course as well as courses in drug therapy and pharmacophysiology, and authored several professional textbooks, among them Med-Math: Dosage Calculation, Preparation and Administration. During this time, she began her service of twenty-one years as an Adjunct Professor of pharmacophysiology and medical ethics at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Her sixteen years as a volunteer began when the School of Nursing closed in 1999.
Sister Grace used her interests and skills for the elderly and adults with developmental disabilities. She volunteered as a certified ombudsman for the New York State Office of the Aging and became a Board Member of Lifespire, Inc., the Bronx Organization for the Learning Disabled (BOLD), and a member of the Scientific and Ethics Review Board of Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York. In 2003, she was honored by Saint Vincent’s Medical Center with the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award. In her later volunteer years, Sister Grace offered service at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, Sisters of Charity Multi-Service Center, both in Yonkers, and the Hyatt Classic Residence (now the Five Star Premier Residences of Yonkers.) In 2014, Sister Grace chose to move to the Assisted Living Program of Jewish Home Lifecare (now The New Jewish Home) in the Bronx, as a coordinator for the Sisters of Charity in residence. She died April 27, 2020, at the Saint Vincent de Paul Rehabilitation Center in the Bronx.
Sister Grace was an excellent teacher and nurse, known for her kindness, compassion, and marvelous sense of humor. She was able to convey her own love of teaching and nursing to her many students over the years. Sister Grace ministered as a Sister of Charity for sixty-eight years and her love for life and ministry was apparent in all she did. We rejoice with her as she enters the presence of our loving God, greeted with the words, “Welcome home, my good and faithful servant.” Rest in peace, Sister Grace.
Date of Death
April 27, 2020
Age
88
Prayer Service and Memorial Mass at a later date.
Burial of cremains at Mount Saint Vincent at a later date.
Missions
Archdiocese of New York
- St. Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan
1954–57, Student
1957–59, Staff Nurse
1959–60, Assist. Head Nurse
1960–61, Relief Night Supervisor
1961–63, Full-time Student - St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing, Manhattan
1963–69, Instructor; Coordinator, Study Skills
1969–98, Instructor; Pharmacodynamics, Part-time - College of Mt. St. Vincent, Bronx
1982–2003, Adjunct Professor; Pharmacophysiology, Medical Ethics - Author
1994, Med-Math: Dosage Calculation, Preparation and Administration - New York State Foundation
1998–2002, Ombudsman Program Volunteer - Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, New York Ethics Dept.
2002–03, Research Assistant & Ethicist - Lifespire
2002–08, Member, Board of Directors - Institutional Scientific & Research Board, SVCMCNY
2004–08, Member - Bronx Organization for the Learning Disabled (BOLD)
2008–11, Board of Directors - Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, Yonkers
Casa de Esperanza, Yonkers
Le Gras Hall, SC Center, Bronx
Mt. St. Vincent Convent, Bronx
2009–11, Volunteer - Classic Residence, Hyatt, Yonkers
2010–14, Volunteer, Eucharistic Minister
I will never forget you Greatest Instructor
RIP soar with the Angels
I am so sad – I will always remember your upbeat personality, excellent teaching skills ,an all around wonderful person. May you Rest In Peace.
Sister Grace was the best. Rest In Peace.
“May a flight of angels wing her to her rest”
Will always remember her kindness – honesty – & sense of humor – one of my favorite teachers – RIP – SR. Grace – a life well lived
Sister Grace was a wonderful person. I knew her at St Vincent’s Hospital where she was loved by many. Her sense of humor was great and I can still hear her laugh in my mind. May she Rest In Peace.
The best pharmacology instructor and expert ever. Still remember her lessons from nursing school. She was tough and soft. A lovely and lively woman. We are all blessed and better nurses because of her. May she Rest In Peace.
I still use all the medication dosage skills you taught us and occasionally refer to your med book. You were certainly a trailblazer, and an instructor we looked up to. Rest in Peace Sister.
Srs of Charity in the nursing profession were not that well known to those who were engaged in the schools of the Archdiocese, unless you became a patient at one of the hospitals. It was almost like being in two separate congregations. I only know Sr Grace by name, but have a friend, who went to Cathedral HS, who told me that Grace was in the scholarship class in senior year, on the sixth floor, with Helen McTaggart. Both of these young women were destined for great things, way back then. They were gifted by God with qualities, that served to make them wonderful Srs. of Charity of New York, and leaders in their fields. In all these “Memoriams” we can recognize the hand of the Holy Spirit at work in each Sister’s life, and in unity, a glorious tapestry is being completed.
R.I.P. SWEET SISTER
She was so cheerful and positive. She taught us pharmacology 1965-68. Made our boards attainable. I see her laughing and hope she brings that twinkle to the beyond..
I will never forget you!! I use the medication skills you taught us every single day. You were an amazing teacher and human. RIP sister until we meet again.
Very sorry to hear this. Condolences to all the Sisters of Charity, family, friends and her SVH+CMSV family. Sister Grace was an excellent teacher. She drilled into us the seriousness of medication administration yet had a sense of humor about it. She was dead serious about making sure we could recite in our sleep the 5 rights of medication administration. Whenever I take a medication myself I take it off the shelf I can’t help but think of her – read the label pour and read the label again before putting it back. Haha if only I could see that tiny print! I will never forget her. I ran into her about 10 years ago at the McBurney Y and she was still very active and swimming. Very sharp! A life well lived and a legacy that will carry on. You can download the .pdf for free from Google but I get she’d get a kick out of the selling price for some of her books https://www.amazon.com.au/Med-Math-Dosage-Calculation-Preparation-Administration/dp/0397551436
Dear ‘Sisters, Please accept my deepest sympathy on the passing of Sr. Grace. Our cousin, Sister Miriam Gertrude, S.C. introduced me to Sr. Grace when my daughter was a student at the Nursing School in the village. The night of my daughters capping, Sister Grace spent some time talking with me and my Dad, and was so happy about having my daughter as her student. I must say, she was outstanding in her approach to the methods of teaching, especially pharmacology, that to this day my daughter, now a nurse, still remembers her with loving thoughts.
Thank you for you loving, dedicated service to the Church, but to God’s people. I had the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in college…you really live the graciousness of St. Vincent de Paul. God give you many more vocations.
Sister Grace taught me pharmacology in 1986 at St. Vincent’s School of Nursing to this day I know medication formulas because of her. Sr.Grace had a great sense of humor and an unbelievable teaching style. She lived for her mom and her devout faith. I hope she is home with the Lord and her mom. Rest easy Sr. Grace.