Maryknoll Sister Anne Karen Brannick
Maryknoller gave 19 years of social work to Hawaii
Maryknoll Sister Anne Karen Brannick who spent 19 years in the 1950s and 1960s as a social worker in Hawaii, died April 19 at age 101. She was a Maryknoll missionary for 80 years.
Mary Catherine Brannick was born in Freeport, Illinois, on May 18, 1921, to Michael and Mary Ellen (Riordan) Brannick. She had long thought of religious life and a visit from a Maryknoll priest to her parish in the eighth grade planted the seeds of a mission life in Maryknoll into her heart and mind.
She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, New York, on Sept. 7, 1943, and upon her reception in March 7, 1944, she received the name Sister Anne Karen, a name she retained until her death. Her first profession was two years later March 7, 1946, and she was assigned to Hawaii in September of that year. Her final vows were in Honolulu, March 7, 1949.
Upon her arrival in Honolulu, Sister Anne Karen launched right into the ministry at Catholic Social Services that would shape her life for the next 18 years. The focus of the agency was families and children and she spent much of her time working with children in need of foster care and families who could meet this large need.
She spoke of the reality of a world recovering from two recent wars. She wrote, “Things are returning to normal. Problems remain, but they are more subtle than sudden” — family breakdown, domestic abuse, mental health challenges, kids at risk — all were part of her daily work, and she loved it.
She stayed on at Catholic Social Services when she was also named superior of the large Punahou convent from 1954 to 1960. At the same time, she earned a master’s degree in social work at the University of Hawaii.
In January 1965, Sister Anne Karen returned to the mainland to care for her mother. She went back to the Maryknoll Center in 1968.
For the next 35 years, Sister Anne Karen was a pillar of life at Maryknoll Center—everyone knew and loved her. She served as the switchboard operator, in the Research and Planning office, as the Rogers’s Library administrator and head of Research Services. She was instrumental in the first basic computerization of the collection.
A very serious car accident in 1982 limited her physically, but never quenched her spirit. She stayed in the library until 2003 when she served for three years as a volunteer in our Treasury Department.
In 2012, she transferred to Maryknoll’s assisted care facility and remained there until her death.
