Sister Spotlight – Sister Margaret Oettinger, OP

A Full Circle of Kindness

Since 1962, Sister Margaret Oettinger, OP, has been a member of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York. Her journey began in a large family, which she describes as “10 children, 6 rooms, and 40 dollars a month for rent.” She walked to elementary school at the Dominican parish of Saint Catherine of Siena, where she had been baptized, and attended Saint Jean Baptiste High School, both in Manhattan. She later worked in Saint Catherine’s Priory as a teenager. 

While at Saint Catherine’s school, she said that the Sparkill Dominican Sisters “touched my heart with their compassion and sincerity in appreciating each other.” She remembers that they were kind and treated children as special. She said, “Kindness is so important! You always remember the kindness of others.”  She recalls a particular kindness when the pastor and Sisters provided her lunches when her father was without work.  

After high school, she dated and decided that married life wasn’t for her. The kind memories of the Dominicans attracted her to seek out a vocation as a religious sister. Sister Veronica Marie Isaacson, OP, assisted her on her vocational journey, and the priests and brothers of her parish also supported her. Her parents were encouraging but said she could always return home if she was not happy. Such honest and heartfelt realism gave her the power to make a meaningful and authentic choice. 

Sister Margaret taught elementary school in the New York Archdiocesan schools for 20 years and was happy to be the one extending kindness and care to children. Later, from 1981-1989, in Multan, Pakistan, she taught and mentored younger Dominican Sisters how to teach in elementary school. Life in Pakistan was difficult, with widespread poverty and injustice. Sister learned more than she taught about empowering women and children. Pakistani people acted and spoke from their hearts.  As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” That was her mantra as she visited Nishtar Hospital in Multan to bring spiritual care, comfort, and support to patients, families, and staff of all faiths. 

After eight years in Pakistan, she was accepted into a chaplaincy program at NYU and returned to school from 1990-1991. She came to live again at Saint Catherine’s Convent as she began her ministry at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in Manhattan, offering spiritual, cultural, and emotional support to the patients, their families, and the staff. 

Sister Margaret reflects, “We are called by God into ministry. . . . The interruptions in life are moments of grace and listening well and being present is every person’s calling. God is within each of us, and my encounters bless me with each person I meet and work with.” 

Her life and ministry have brought Sister Margaret full circle after 28 years of teaching in New York and Pakistan, 32 years of ministry at HSS, and 62 years as a member of the Sparkill Dominicans who she describes proudly as “full of life, inspirational, wise, and the most gifted and kind disciples God ever had.”