BIO: Beneath the warm smile and sparkle in her eyes lies a tremendous drive to excel - both in her vocation as a member of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and as an educator of inner-city children. Her parents, John McDermott and Delia Regan emigrated to America in the mid-1920s but returned to Ireland after their marriage in 1931. The young couple settled in Co. Roscommon, where they gave birth to two children, Jack and Maeve. They re-emigrated to the U.S. in 1934, where they brought two more children, Joe and Ed, into the world. Sister Maeve's county of origin, then, is Roscommon, and her Irish family names include Regan, McDermott, Deignan and Creaton. Sister says she received the blessing of energy from her late father, "which flowed from two loyal hearts - the heart of Ireland, and the heart of the United States." From her mother, she received "the gift of open-hearted hospitality." The McDermotts are a deeply religious family, and both Maeve and her br! other Jack entered the religious life, he presently (1998) serving as pastor of a parish in northern New Jersey. Sister Maeve's work as co-principal of Saint Patrick's and Assumption/All Saints grammar schools in Jersey City, N.J., is legendary. With her encouragement and vision, the inner-city students at these schools are achieving graduation rates and over-all accomplishments that are a model for similar schools around the country. Her clear, straightforward, and unwavering faith combined with a big heart has ensured that a warm "Cead Mile Failte" is exended to all who pass her way. -- Excerpt, "The World of Hibernia" (Summer/1998)