Regina Marie Sasseen

REGINA MARIE SASSEEN DOB 08-15-1938 TO HER DEATH AUGUST 02, 2025
To the memory of Regina Marie Sasseen who took her last breath peacefully on August 02, 2025, as I held her hand after lunch and passed her hand to our Lord to continue her life of love, caring and teaching the Catholic faith to so many. She was the last of the six children Robert Brownie Sasseen and Taresa Marie Regan had. They proceeded her death, Treasa Ann (Schlosser), Betty (Mongeon, Miller), Joan (Severs), Barbara (McCullagh), Robert Francis Sasseen. She is survived by many nieces and nephews and their children.
Regina (nick name Reggie in High School and college, (AKA) Sister Mary Joan Sasseen of Ursulines of the Eastern Province, (AKA) Regina M. Sasseen and Regina M McNiel after our marriage on July 22,1995. Regina and I meet on July 13,1993 on a moonlight hike up Sabino Canyon north of Tucson, AZ and set a date to play golf following her trip in August. We dated and enjoyed traveling to visit family the following year. February 14, 1995, Regina accepted the engagement ring before we went to St. Pius Church Knights dance. First on the dance floor and until the last dance, something we both enjoyed very much. We were married on July 22,1995 and started our life traveling each year to visit family and friends. In 1998 we had to put a hold on traveling due to Regina having right lung surgery. After Regina's retirement from the Diocese of Tucson in 2003 we were able to travel more but had to put a hold on to travel in the spring of 2004 due to my cancer surgery but did make Carolyn McCullagh wedding in Florida that fall. In 2005, Regina started working with the Jordan Ministry training four-year program for Decans and Laity and did this for three four sessions. We decided in 2019 after my fall in the spring to sell the properties in Tucson and move to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to be closer to family for health support. Regina memory loses due to Alzheimer's disease had progress beyond my ability to care for her at home and we arranged for her care in a memory care facility. She always had a smile, and we talked about the family and friends. The phone calls were always a joy for her to hear the voices of others, and she tried to respond the best she could. We are always thankful of those who were able to visit and call us these last five years. God bless you all for the love and support you given us during this time.
The Accomplishments of Regina Marie Sasseen.
1956 St. Agnes Cathedral School
Regina won first place foul-shooting for Greater New york
From the Catholic University of America given October 28, 1971
SR. JOAN SASSEEN, OSU, The Degree of MASTER OF ARTS
From, DIOCESE OF TUCSON, Regina M. Sasseen was
Director of Department of Parish Life and Ministry from 1990 to August 31, 2003

The College of New Rechelle asked the Alumni to provide a BIO to be added to the 'IN MY WORDS, the oral history of THE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE', as told by the alumni' This "IN MY WORDS, the oral history project" (see page 313) was published in 2022. The following is what Regina Marie Sasseen sent 'the oral history project'. This is what she wrote about her life story in 2005 to share with the alumni.
Bio WROTE BY Reggie M Sasseen 2005.
Regina M. Sasseen (nickname Reggie) Maiden and married name: Sasseen Born 8/15/38
My husband is Reece McNiel, and socially we are fine with Reece and Reggie McNiel.
3393 N. Wood Violet Ct. Tucson, AZ 85750-3147 520-296-4612 cell: 520-404-8972 e-mail rsasseen@ultrasw.com Occupation now: retired, and volunteer at local hospital and with Diocesan and/or parish formation programs Formerly: From 9/1/1990 to 8/31/2003, I served as the Director of the Department of Parish Life and Ministry for the Diocese of Tucson. Stepchildren: 6 Step grandchildren: 6

Do I have a favorite memory of St. Agnes?
Hard to say: I enjoyed the intellectual challenge and felt we received a good education. I also enjoyed playing basketball! It really helped me keep sane! Favorite teacher, Probably Sr. Monica Marie, Science.
Fifty years is a long time to describe! Especially when our world and societal context have changed so drastically, and we ourselves as well! I'll try to describe the major phases of my life following my graduation from college of New Rochelle in 1960. nun (30 years).

Phase I:
I entered the Ursulines and spent 2 &1/2 years in Beacon, NY (a mile in from the nearest road!). Then I went to Washington DC and studied at Catholic University. Eventually, I received a M.A. in English and one in Religious Education at Catholic University. My first assignment was to teach high school Religion and English at Ursuline Academy in Bethesda, MD.
In 1972, I moved to the College of New Rochelle, NY and worked for two years as an Assistant to the Academic Dean and as co-director of a woman's dormitory (during the "streaking" years!).
For the next two years, I worked for the Diocese of Rockville Center in the Religious Education Office. It felt like coming home in many ways. After two years, I was called back to service within The Ursulines and spent the next 6 years in provincial administration.
Phase II:
During the next year I had a sabbatical, during which I spent three months studying Spanish and visiting in Mexico, including a six-week stay with a family in Cuernavaca. I then traveled by bus mainly to different parts of the USA in order to study how dioceses were implementing formation programs for laity. (Over the years in provincial administration, I had served on several national boards connected to the US Bishop's conference and had wonderful contacts in different parts of the USA.)
For the next seven years, 1983-1990, I was a Pastoral Associate at St. Mary's Parish, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, on Grand St., just south of Delancy St. and in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge. (It was my first experience of really living in the Big Apple. Did I ever learn a lot, from the people and from being in the city!)
Phase III:
I left The Ursulines in July of 1990 and moved to Tucson, AZ and was single for five years.
In Tucson I took a position with the Diocese of Tucson as Director of the Department of Parish Life and Ministry. Tucson is a "mission" diocese (that is, one that is poor, with few resources, no Catholic colleges or universities, very large and spread out over 43,000 square miles). Within the Diocese, I worked with a wonderful staff for 13 years. We planned formation programs for all levels and types of ministries and traveled all over southern Arizona to provide them. Obviously, I have learned a lot from the people of the Southwest—natives, Hispanics, Anglos and winter "snowbirds."

In July 1995, I married Reece McNiel, whom I had met two years earlier on an evening hike in Sabino Canyon—a national forest area very near to my house. All my siblings, an elderly aunt and some of my 30 nieces and nephews came to the wedding, as did Reece's parents and two of his children and grandchildren. Within the next year and a half, two of my sisters died: Terry, the eldest and Barbara, twin to my brother Bob.
Phase IV:
Right after I retired at the end of August in 2003, Reece and I took a car trip of 12,000 miles over a hundred days, all over the country. Our purpose was to visit family and friends and revisit special people/places from our earlier years. It was a fantastic trip, as we stayed at least 80% of the time with family and friends and traveled through more than 20 states.
Phase V:
Currently, apart from the usual household tasks, I do volunteer work at a local hospital, offer parish workshops and am involved in a combined diocesan formation program for deacon candidates and lay leaders.
My Dad died in 1982 and my Mother in 1986 after spending over seventeen ears enjoying the west coast of Florida. They brought us all together there to celebrate their 50 and 59 wedding anniversaries. In 1998 I had lung surgery to remove a blood clot in the lung, and last year my husband Reece had many surgeries related to a cancer in the colon found through a routine screening. We are both fine now and grateful for the health and strength with which God has blessed us.
Regarding the Church?
First of all, thanks for asking this question.
Having lived and worked so closely within the Church for most of my adult life, I've had my moments of anger and frustration, disillusionment and doubt. These continue at times, but so does the gift of a faith that helps my heart and mind recognize the sacramental presence of God and Jesus and the Spirit even within a wounded Church, and a tortured and violent world as well. Happily, this presence of God is more easily recognized in the gifts of family and friends and the witness of so many decent people all around us.


DONATION TO THE MEMORY OF REGINA M. SASSEEN TO BE SENT TO
Ursuline Provincialate
1338 North Avenue
New Rochelle, N.Y.10804-2121
Phone: 914.712.0060 or link to Contribute Now - URSULINES of The Eastern Province

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