Sister Mary Kieran O'Keeffe, SSJ, 86, died April 22, 2008, at Our Lady of Lourdes Convent in St. Augustine, Florida. She was a native of County Cork, Ireland. She left her homeland as a young girl of 18 to begin her life and ministry as a Sister of St. Joseph. She ministered in the field of education for thirty years with the first twenty years spent in the Diocese of St. Augustine moving back and forth between St. Augustine (St. Agnes School and Cathedral Parish School) and Jacksonville (St. Paul School, Riverside). She started out teaching 1st and 2nd graders and moved up the grades to 7th grade. The next ten years were spent in schools in the southern part of the state and were all devoted to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. These schools included St. Mary's, Miami, Sts. Peter and Paul, Miami, St. Juliana, West Palm Beach, Sacred Heart, Lake Worth and St. Stephen, Miramar. The school year, 1967-68, found her back in St. Augustine at St. Agnes School. She moved from the classroom to the hospital room where she spent a year visiting the sick at Mercy Hospital. She became a member of the Pastoral Ministry department at Mercy Hospital in 1972. She began that ministry on a full time basis and as time went on reduced her hours to part time and then to volunteer status. For the last 15 years she had a ministry of prayer remaining in Miami until this past year when she returned to St. Augustine. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sisters of St. Joseph Development are gratefully appreciated. Funeral Services will be held 10:00 AM Friday at St. Joseph Convent Chapel, 241 St. George Street Officiating: Rev. Christopher Liguori Burial will be in San Lorenzo Cemetery She is survived by: three sisters, Margaret O'Keeffe, Anne Latchford and Bernadette Van Haeften, all in England and nieces and nephews living in Ireland, England and Canada Craig Funeral Home Crematory Memorial Park is in charge of the arrangements. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com O'KEEFFE