Sister Eileen (James Leone) McGovern, BVM
Sister Eileen (James Leone) McGovern, BVM, 96, of Mount Carmel Bluffs, Dubuque, Iowa, died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.
Visitation will be from 9-9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in the Mary Frances Clarke Chapel at Mount Carmel Bluffs. Sharing of Memories will be at 9:30 a.m., followed immediately by the Mass of Christian Burial. Burial is in the Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Sister Eileen was a sociology/social work department chair and instructor at Clarke University, a therapist for Spanish speaking clients at Catholic Charities, and a clinical social worker for the Gannon Center for Community Mental Health, all in Dubuque, Iowa. She was a psychiatric social worker for the Dubuque County/Jackson County Mental Health Center, and a school social worker for the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She ministered as a university instructor in Bogotá, Columbia, and Salta, Argentina. She was an elementary teacher at St. Ambrose and St. John in Des Moines; Sacred Heart in Lincoln, Neb.; and St. Paul in San Francisco. She served the congregation as second vice president and pastoral care minister.
She was born on July 18, 1929, in Dubuque, Iowa, to Michael and Leonilla (Wiemold) McGovern. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1947, from St. Matthew Parish, Chicago. She professed first vows on March 19, 1950, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1955.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Virginia McGovern and Mary Ann (Charles) Roth; brothers: James and William (Barbara) McGovern; and brother-in-law Christian Davidsaver. She is survived by a sister Rose Marie Davidsaver, Dubuque, Iowa; nieces; nephews; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 78 years.
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