Sr. Mary Vincent Dornbush, MSC, 92, a Marianite of Holy Cross, died at The Terraces at Lawrence, Lawrenceville, NJ, Thursday, July 3, 2025.

Baptized Bette Dornbush, she and her twin sister Doris, the only children of Elsie and Vincent Dornbush,  grew up on Staten Island, NY.  The girls attended high school at St. Louis Academy, which was operated by the Marianites of Holy Cross.  Through the witness of the Marianite Sisters at the Academy and visits to St. Vincent de Paul Boarding School in Tarrytown, NY, Bette developed a desire to help the less privileged children of the boarding school.  Answering God’s call, she entered the Marianite Congregation on September 8, 1950.

After her profession of vows in 1953, Sr. Vincent served as a teacher at St. Louis Academy, St. Vincent de Paul Boarding School, and St. Benedict School in Hazlet, NJ.  She also attended Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in New York City, and in the summer participated in the college’s Pius X School of Liturgical Music.  

Although teaching the little ones was Sr. Vincent’s first love, in 1973 her skill in finances and her compassionate decision-making led to her appointment as treasurer and superior of Our Lady of Princeton Provincial House. For the next 24 years she served in various leadership positions on both the provincial and congregational levels.

In 1997, Sr. Vincent and her great friend in community, Sr. Margaret Cronley, closed the doors of Our Lady of Princeton, which was eventually sold to the Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart.  They relocated to Notre Dame Diocesan Convent, where Sr. Vincent continued to serve the Marianite community in various leadership positions.  She kept very active.  Her last renewal of her Notary Public Certificate occurred in 2018 at the age of 85!

Sr. Vincent was the most down to earth, direct, and practical person you could ever meet.  More importantly, she was a person of deep faith and great love.  Her intimate relationship with Jesus was the source of her love for others.  She loved her family, her sister Doris, her nieces Joanne and Diane, and her many grandnieces and grandnephews.  She loved her Marianite Sisters.  And she loved the people who came into her life at her places of ministry, at Our Lady of Princeton, and at the Terraces.   She was the epitome of hospitality – always welcoming, always interested in what others were doing, always building relationships.  She genuinely cared.  She will be greatly missed.

Predeceased by her parents, Elsie and Vincent Dornbush, her nephews Steven Brennan and Pat Price, and her grand niece Lauren Price, Sr. Vincent is survived by her twin sister Doris Brennan, her nieces Joanne Competiello and Diane Price, and her grand nephews and grand nieces and their families.

The family and the Marianite Sisters wish to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the personal aides and the staff of the Terraces, who cared for Sr. Vincent throughout her illness. 

Memorial services will be held Friday, July 11, 2025 at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, The Terraces at Lawrence, 1 Bishops’ Drive, Lawrenceville, NJ.   Visitation will begin at 9:00 AM, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 AM.  Interment will take place at the Marianites of Holy Cross Cemetery, Princeton, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to the Marianites of Holy Cross Congregational Center, in care of Sr. Ann Lacour, 75520 Highway LA – 1081, Covington, LA 70435.