She was born in 1928 in Philadelphia, PA. Her family later moved to Manhattan, where she attended St. Vincent Ferrer Elementary School and met the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs.
She continued her education and religious formation with the Sisters as a boarding student at Mary Immaculate School in Ossining, NY. In 1946, following her high school graduation, she entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs, now the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Sr. Lelia earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the College of St. Mary of the Springs, now Ohio Dominican University, and a Master of Science in Education and Speech Pathology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.
Sr. Lelia spent her many years of ministry as a teacher, meeting and forming students in elementary schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. She had a special love for students with special needs. For a number of years she ministered as a speech pathologist in the Brooklyn/Queens Special Education Program. In 1992 she became Director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic of City College of New York, ending her tenure on the CCNY faculty shortly before her golden jubilee in 2008.
Sr. Lelia recognized that her ministry was one of preaching. "In working with children who find verbal communication so difficult, it seems that this work is a very basic step of Preaching," Sr. Lelia wrote. "At a time when Right to Life is a prime issue, being able to offer parents of developmentally delayed children a program that will continue their social and academic growth is a concrete follow-up to the teaching of the Church." She was preceded in death by her parents William Horkans and Anna Burns Horkans. She was survived by one sister, Eleanor Slattery, two nephews, James Slattery, William Slattery, and one niece, Mary Kleen.
She was born in 1928 in Philadelphia, PA. Her family later moved to Manhattan, where she attended St. Vincent Ferrer Elementary School and met the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs.
She continued her education and religious formation with the Sisters as a boarding student at Mary Immaculate School in Ossining, NY. In 1946, following her high school graduation, she entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs, now the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Sr. Lelia earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the College of St. Mary of the Springs, now Ohio Dominican University, and a Master of Science in Education and Speech Pathology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.
Sr. Lelia spent her many years of ministry as a teacher, meeting and forming students in elementary schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. She had a special love for students with special needs. For a number of years she ministered as a speech pathologist in the Brooklyn/Queens Special Education Program. In 1992 she became Director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic of City College of New York, ending her tenure on the CCNY faculty shortly before her golden jubilee in 2008.
Sr. Lelia recognized that her ministry was one of preaching. "In working with children who find verbal communication so difficult, it seems that this work is a very basic step of Preaching," Sr. Lelia wrote. "At a time when Right to Life is a prime issue, being able to offer parents of developmentally delayed children a program that will continue their social and academic growth is a concrete follow-up to the teaching of the Church." She was preceded in death by her parents William Horkans and Anna Burns Horkans. She was survived by one sister, Eleanor Slattery, two nephews, James Slattery, William Slattery, and one niece, Mary Kleen.
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