We Say Goodbye to Sr. Susannah Malarkey
Just days after her 95th birthday, Sr. Susannah Malarkey (formerly Sr. M. Augustine), a Dominican Sister of San Rafael of 74 years, died peacefully on November 22, 2025, surrounded by her Dominican Sisters. Curious, contemplative, and deeply spiritual, Sr. Susannah had a remarkable ability to think differently—and to inspire others to do the same. She approached life with an infectious joy and a profound appreciation for the interconnectedness of all people and all creation. Throughout her long and active life, she never shied away from an opportunity to grow. She nurtured her faith, her relationships, and her ministries with zeal, and she found beauty in every part of God’s creation.
Born in Portland, Oregon, Susannah was the youngest of four children of Neil and Susannah Platt Malarkey. Known as “Sudie” to her family—a nickname given by her brothers—she attended Holy Child Academy before moving in her sophomore year to San Rafael to attend Dominican Convent Upper School (what is now San Domenico School), graduating with the Class of 1948.
After a year at Manhattanville College in New York City, she returned to San Rafael to enter the Dominican novitiate, taking the name Sister M. Augustine. She earned a B.A. in French and Latin from Dominican College and later completed an M.A. in Latin and Greek during summer sessions at The Catholic University of America. During these years of study, she began a five-decade ministry in education, teaching Latin, Religion, and English at St. Rose Academy in San Francisco, Dominican Upper School (known as San Domenico School today), and St. Mary’s High School in Stockton.
In the 1970s, Sr. Susannah served in congregational leadership as First Councillor, where she established the Ongoing Formation Program, published the congregation’s first newsletter, and supervised multiple capital projects. Her congregational work overlapped with her role as Vice Principal for Academic, Financial, and Student Affairs at Justin-Siena High School in Napa. Throughout her various ministries, her commitment to justice, a seed first nurtured during her childhood by her mother, continued to burn brighter. Preaching by her life, she joined the farm workers’ protests organized by Caesar Chavez, engaged in civil rights advocacy, and poured her energy into the Sisters’ social justice committee.
After a well-deserved 1982 sabbatical in Tijuana, Mexico, where she spent four months volunteering at Casa de los Pobres, she returned to San Francisco in 1983 to assist the Community Outreach Program at Sacred Heart before being appointed Director of the Santa Sabina Center, where she led seventeen years of retreats, contemplative programming, and spiritual formation.
During her tenure, Santa Sabina added several significant enhancements, including an Art/Meditation space, a straw-bale hermitage on the hillside, and a quiet-space yurt—all designed to embody the Center’s mission of fostering “a contemplative way of being.” She also taught a semester course, “Spirit of the Earth,” in the Religious Studies Department at Dominican University. In 1990, she spent six months at Genesis Farm in New Jersey, reflecting: “My central focus and growing understanding is the intimate interdependence and interconnectedness not just among members of the human family on this our ‘home’ planet, but of all living things, all life systems.” She went on to serve on the congregation’s Earth Charter Implementation Committee and led by example in any initiative to “care for our common home.”
Following her retirement from Santa Sabina, Sr. Susannah continued to serve through parish ministries, volunteer work at the Lima Center in San Francisco, giving occasional presentations on Pope Francis’ earth-centered encyclical Laudato Si’, and tutoring at San Rafael’s Canal Alliance. During her later retirement years at Dominican Convent, she remained a vibrant, beloved presence—welcoming a steady stream of visitors, including former students, classmates, relatives, and friends. She was cherished by the convent care team and was a warm, joyful fixture at congregational events.
The many visitors and abundant correspondence she received stand as a testament to the profound impact she had on countless lives. Whether guiding the congregation, teaching students, building retreat programs, or simply sharing conversation with a friend, Sr. Susannah’s wholehearted presence will long be remembered. Her legacy endures in all those enriched by her wisdom, joy, and deep sense of connection.
Sr. Susannah is predeceased by her parents, Neil and Susannah Platt Malarkey, and by her brothers Neil, Jr., and Stoddard, and her sister Alice Koehler. She is survived by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, members of her extended Malarkey family, and by her Dominican Sisters.
A Mass of the Resurrection will be held on December 13, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. in Dominican Hall on the San Domenico School campus (1500 Butterfield Rd., San Anselmo). All are welcome.
Memorial gifts in honor of Sr. Susannah Malarkey may be made to the Care for Our Senior Sisters Fund, Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, Advancement Office, 1520 Grand Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901, or online.
