Sister Ellen Dolores Lynch, peace activist, dies

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     Holy Cross Sister Ellen Dolores Lynch, 81, an educator and advocate for peace and justice issues, died Aug. 17, at her home in Silver Spring.  She was especially concerned with efforts to alleviate poverty in Nicaragua and other Central America nations.

   Sister Ellen Dolores was born in Jefferson County, W. Va.  A member of Saint Dominic's Parish in Southwest Washington, she attended Saint Dominic's Grade School and Notre Dame Academy.  She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Dunbarton College in 1943 and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1957.

     Following graduation from Dunbarton College, she immediately went to work for the U.S. government as a chemist during World War II.  She entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1950 and made first vows in 1952.

     From 1957-73, she served as a chemistry professor at Dunbarton College in Washington and later worked in administration at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Ind., and on the faculty of the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington.

     In 1981, Sister Ellen Dolores began advocating peace and justice issues.  From 1981-88 she worked with the Coalition for a New Foreign Policy in Washington.  She then worked as a peace and justice activist with the Quixote Center/Quest for Peace in Hyattsville until her retirement in 2000.  Until her death, she continued to be a strong contributor to the Holy Cross Congregation Justice Office, the work of the Quixote Center and the peace and justice movement in the Washington area.

     A large gathering of friends, relatives and associates from her years in education and justice work joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross to celebrate her life at a vigil service on Aug. 19 at St. Angela Hall in Kensington.  The Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated in the chapel at Saint Angela's the next day, and interment took place at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.