America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
Brother Seán D. Sammon, F.M.S., former superior general of the Institute of the Marist Brothers of the Schools, died Sept. 9 at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. He was 74.
Brother Sammon was superior general, 2001-2009, overseeing the work of 4,000 Marist Brothers in 79 countries. He also served as vicar general for the Marist Brothers, 1993-2001, and was provincial of the Marist Brothers’ Poughkeepsie Province, 1987-1993.
After serving as superior general, Brother Sammon was at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, where he was a scholar in residence and served on the college’s board of trustees since 2010. He was also novice director for the Marist Brothers’ USA Province since 2017.
He was a teacher and guidance counselor at St. Agnes Boys High School, Manhattan, 1970-1974.
Born in Manhattan, he attended St. Vincent Ferrer School, Manhattan, and St. Agnes Boys High School, which was staffed by the Marist Brothers. He continued his high school education at the Marist Juniorate, Cold Spring, before entering St. Joseph Novitiate, Tyngsboro, Mass., in 1965. He professed final vows in 1981.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Marist College; a master’s in psychology from the New School for Research, Manhattan; a master’s in psychology from Fordham University, the Bronx; and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fordham University. He was a licensed psychologist in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Brother Sammon wrote books on psychology, religious life and spirituality. He received awards for his books from the Catholic Press Association, and also earned the National Religious Vocation Conference’s Outstanding Recognition Award. He received the St. Edmund’s Medal of Honor from the Edmundite Fathers and Brothers for his contributions to the Catholic Church.
His brother, Brother Hank Sammon, F.M.S., and sister, Moira Magro, survive him.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 16 in Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel at Marist College. Burial will be at a later date.
