Virginia “Ginny” Dennehy, RSCJ

Religious of the Sacred Heart, Virginia “Ginny” Dennehy, passed away on October 31, 2025, in Atherton, California. She was 91 years old and a religious for 68 years. Ginny was born on May 26, 1934, in Lake Forest, Illinois, to Charles Dennehy and Virginia Wilson Dennehy. She was their only daughter, growing up with two brothers.

Ginny attended Maryville College, graduating in 1957 with a B.A. in Education. She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart that same year at Kenwood in Albany, New York, and made her first vows in 1960. She taught for one year at Woodlands Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois (1961-1962). In 1962, Sister Dennehy began teaching at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. She went on to earn an M.A. in Education from Manhattanville in 1964. In September of 1965, she left for probation in Rome. She made her final vows on February 5, 1966, and returned to Woodlands Academy, where she taught and was coordinator of students until 1969, when she became headmistress of the school until 1973. She also completed an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Creighton University in 1970 during her first year as headmistress.

Between 1974 and 1979, Sister Dennehy founded and directed the Life Career and Planning Center at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois. She was an active member of the provincial team while concurrently holding part-time faculty positions at Barat College in Lake Forest and Mundelein College in Chicago. Additionally, from 1979 to 1982, she served as a workshop facilitator in life/career counseling for both religious and lay individuals at The John Crystal Center in New York. Beginning in 1982, Sister Dennehy began doctoral studies in Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California. She was a therapist in private practice as she worked on her Ph.D., which she was awarded in 1987. She was an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate psychology part-time at John F. Kennedy University in 1988. She was licensed as a psychologist in California in 1989 and continued in private practice at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto part-time.

Sister Dennehy served on the Board of Trustees of Maryville College (1972-1982), and Convent of the Sacred Heart in Chicago (1978-1982).

She pursued further training in spirituality, retreat work, and psychology. She also served as area director for Menlo/San Jose from 2005 to 2007.  

Sister Dennehy was a lifelong golf enthusiast. In 1994, she became the oldest champion in the 22-year history of the Santa Clara County Women’s Golf Championship by winning at age 60. She also won the Broadmoor Senior Women’s Invitational in Colorado in 1989 and earned a gold medal in the 1991 Senior Olympics golf tournament held in Syracuse, New York.

Sister Dennehy moved to the Oakwood Retirement Center in 2013 and remained an active part of the community until her health started to deteriorate last year. In recent months, as her condition worsened, she entered hospice care. On October 31, 2025, Sister Dennehy peacefully went to God.

Sr. Virginia Dennehy’s funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, December 2 at 10:00 am (PST) in the Oakwood Chapel, Atherton, California.

Memorial contributions in memory of Sister Virginia Dennehy, RSCJ, may be made to the Society of the Sacred Heart, P.O. Box 958047, St. Louis, MO 63195-8047, or online at https://rscj.org/donate.