PETALING JAYA: Hundreds of people bade farewell to Datin Paduka Sister Enda Ryan, the founder and former headmistress of Assunta all-girls school, who died on April 7.
The hearse bearing her coffin, which was draped in the Assunta school flag, left the St Francis Xavier Church after a funeral mass at noon.
The cortege headed for the Assunta Secondary School where many gathered to say their goodbyes to Sister Enda, who was 96.
It entered the school's Jalan Talent gate where many, who were in tears, lined the stretch and sang the "Assunta School Song" which Sister Enda had composed decades ago.
The cortege then paused at the front porch of the office before it proceeded to the Petaling Jaya City Council crematorium.
Before the cremation, those present gathered around Sister Enda's coffin recited prayers for her and paid their last respects with flowers.
The school flag draped over Sister Enda's coffin was removed, folded and handed over to Sister Elizabeth Tan of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM), the order to which she belonged.
Sister Elizabeth then passed the flag to Sister Enda's relatives who had flown in from Ireland for the funeral.
Sister Enda was born Eileen Philomena Ryan in Galbally, Ireland, on Dec 30, 1928.
She joined the FMM in 1947.
She arrived in then-Malaya in 1954 following a request by Sir Michael Hogan (the then-chief justice of Malaya) to set up schools for girls whose education had been disrupted during the Communist insurgency.
During her 31 years of service, she received numerous awards, including the Excellent Service Award from the Education Ministry (1985), the Pingat Jasa Cemerlang (1986), the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK) from the sultan of Selangor (1987) and Anugerah Tokoh Guru Selangor (1990).
She was the first headmistress of the schools, and in 1966, she became a Malaysian citizen.
She retired in 1989 and lived at the Assunta Convent here.
In 2007, she was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Dato' Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah by the sultan of Selangor, which carries the title Datin Paduka.
She was conferred an honorary doctorate in humanities from Taylor's University in 2022.