Congregational Register No. 158
D.O.B. 12.03.1919
First Profession 07.09.1949
Died: 05.11.2003  Aged: 84 years
Patricia Boyle was born in Dublin and was educated at the Presentation Convent in Terenure, the Technical School in Rathmines, and Gregg Secretarial College. After her commercial training she worked for four years as a secretary to the managing director of a large drug company before entering MMM in 1946.

She completed her initial formation in 1949 and her secretarial skills were put to immediate use in the MMM Magazine Office. However the needs in Nigeria were great, and it was not long before she was on her way to St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua. Between 1950 and 1960 she worked as hospital secretary in various locations in Nigeria: Anua, Obudu, Abakaliki and Ogoja.

Mother Mary recalled Sr. Francis Xavier to Ireland in 1960 and appointed her as novice directress. She held this position for three years and was noted for her disciplinarian approach in formation, common in those times. This was actually at odds with her true personality, which was warm and generous. She had a good sense of humour and is remembered by those who knew her as a woman of faith and integrity. She was full of missionary zeal and loved Nigeria which she returned to in1963 as Regional Superior for West Africa. During the unsettled period of the Biafra War (Dec. 69 – Feb. 71) she worked as secretary to the Apostolic Delegate in London. Sr. Francis Xavier returned to Nigeria again in 1971 and worked first in the Apostolic Delegation in Lagos and then in Eleta, Obudu, Ondo and Benin City. For many of these years she worked as the regional bursar.

Sr. Francis Xavier finally returned home to Ireland in 1989. Following a renewal program in Jerusalem, she helped with secretarial work in the generalate until 1993 when she requested to be assigned to the USA to help with Mission Awareness. However, visa difficulties and ill health combined to make her assignment there a short one and she returned to Ireland in 1994. Her retirement years in Mell Community, Drogheda, were happy ones.

She moved to Áras Mhuire in 2001 because of her increasing frailty and died there peacefully and quite suddenly on 5 November 2003. She is buried in Drogheda.