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Dominican Sister Of Sparkill, 81, Cited After Crashing Car Into NJ House

An 81-year-old member of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill received a careless driving summons after a ministry-owned car she was driving ripped a hole in the side of a Bergen County home on Christmas morning.

Scene of the crash.

Scene of the crash.

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Franklin Lakes Volunteer Fire Dept.

Sister Margaret McPartland of Bardonia mistakenly put the car into reverse instead of drive, sending it careening across a Franklin Lakes street, over a lawn and through an attached garage of the single-family house, borough police Capt. John Bakelaar said.

Sister McPartland was hospitalized as a precaution but wasn't seriously injured, responders said.

"Crews first used mechanical shoring, utilizing our Super X Struts from Res-Q-Jack, to temporarily shore [the damaged corner of the building] so crews could safely work in the damaged area, followed by wood shoring which remained in place," the Franklin Lakes Volunteer Fire Department said.

The Dominican Sisters of Sparkhill are a female Catholic religious congregation that owns and operates two secondary schools -- including Albertus Magnus High School on Route 304 in Bardonia -- and participates in a variety of ministries both locally and across the world.

The congregation is part of the worldwide Order of Preachers, founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega in France in the early 13th century.

McPartland's sister, fellow Dominican Sister Theresa Mary McPartland, died at Montefiore Nyack Hospital on Dec. 19. She was 84.

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