[1][2][3][4][5] One of seven children born to Irish migrants to the United States, Kane grew up in The Bronx, New York.
[1] She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy at their convent in Tarrytown, New York, in September 1955, taking the religious name Theresa.
[2] Kane attended Manhattanville College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in economics in 1959.
[1] During Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States in 1979, she was chosen to give the greeting to him from the pulpit of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C..[7] As part of her short, televised address, she stated: "the Church in its struggle to be faithful to its call for reverence and dignity for all persons must respond by providing the possibility of women as persons being included in all ministries of our Church".
[2] Her funeral Mass was held at the Church of the Transfiguration in Tarrytown, New York, on September 3, celebrated by Fr Charles Curran.