After obtaining a Masters in Deafness Education from New York University, Sister Theresa recruited volunteers and taught them to sign for Mass and classroom teaching. She initiated Mass for the deaf and hard of hearing every Sunday in different parts of New York.

Sister Theresa Gravino, Sister Dominica Maria, was born March 25, 1930, in the Bronx, New York, one of five children, three boys and two girls of Michael and Minni De Monte Gravino. Theresa attended Saint Raymond Elementary School in the Bronx and Cathedral High School in Manhattan, before entering the Sisters of Charity of New York on September 7, 1947. Sister Dominica received a BA in Latin from the College (University) of Mount Saint Vincent, an MA in Latin from Fordham University, and an MA in Religious Studies from Manhattan College. New York State awarded her Permanent Certification in Latin and in education for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired.

Sister Theresa spent forty-nine years of active ministry in a variety of fields of education. In her eleven years of elementary school teaching, she was assigned to Saint John the Evangelist in White Plains, Saint Brigid in Manhattan, and Saints Peter and Paul in the Bronx. With her degree in Latin, she taught high school for seventeen years at Holy Cross Academy in Manhattan, Academy of Mount Saint Vincent in Tuxedo Park, New York, Saint Barnabas, and Cardinal Spellman, both in the Bronx.

Sister Theresa’s twenty-one years in deaf education began as Religious Education Coordinator at the New York Catholic Deaf Center. She later joined the staff at Saint Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx. In retirement, she offered her services at neighborhood Catholic Schools and Saint Joseph School for the Deaf. In 2015, she joined the retirement community at Mount Saint Vincent Convent and in 2020 moved to Cabrini of Westchester in Dobbs Ferry. She died on February 16, 2025, in the seventy-eighth year of commitment as a Sister of Charity of New York  at Saint John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers.

Sister Theresa’s name usually evoked two attributes, her beautiful singing voice and her devotion to the deaf and hard of hearing community. Her ministry for the deaf and hard of hearing grew from love of the faith and her compassionate heart. She recognized that religious instruction and participation in Mass in their “own language” were not readily available to this community. After obtaining a Masters in Deafness Education from New York University, she recruited volunteers and taught them to sign for Mass and classroom teaching. She initiated Mass for the deaf and hard of hearing every Sunday in different parts of New York. She saw a need and made herself available to fill it.

Sister Theresa, you were born on the day dedicated as the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when Mary said “Yes” to birthing God’s salvation in our world. Your “Yes” to God throughout your life has brought grace to many. Go forth to the God who welcomes you home.