Sister Rita Walsh '48

In loving memory of Sister Rita Walsh, '48. who entered into eternal life on August 14, 2021 in her 91st year of life and her 72nd year of religious commitment.

Photo above is an excerpt from the Academy of Saint Elizabeth 1948 Yearbook

Sister Rita Walsh ’48

The life of both a SEAster and a sister.

A L U M N A S P O T L I G H T

by Katelyn Rohlf | ’21 and Samantha Insler | ‘22

What was life like at the Academy when you attended?

The Academy when I was there was very different from what it is now. It was like a convent. There were only 25 in each class, so 100 students. The principal was Sister Mary Josephine Bauer; a very oldtimer, everything was sinful, you know.

When we went to class we always gathered in the study hall. There was no talking in the study hall. It was a study hall, you studied there. And when you left to go to class, you walked one behind the other in silence. I don’t think you’re doing that now.

But it was a wonderful school, I got a wonderful education. I’m never sorry for my decision to go there. We had a very heavy schedule. You had to maintain your grades. There were eight of us who were day students who came from Dover and picked up girls along the train line. Every year we had a silent retreat. We lived like nuns. And look what happened?

At what age did you enter the convent?

Seventeen. My birthday is on November 2. On October 2, 1948, I entered the convent and turned 18 a month later.

I started very young, so really convent life is all I know. But I’ve never regretted my choice. Even as old as I am, I’ve never regretted my choice.

Do you know when you wanted to join the convent, or when you knew that you had a calling?

I was a kid, maybe 5th grade. I always wanted to be a teacher and I always wanted to be a sister. So I put the two together and entered the convent. It worked out very nicely. I had Caldwell Dominicans in grade school but I prefer the Sisters of Charity. They’re a bigger order. We now have 228, which is not a lot but that’s the way religious life is going, that’s the way the church is going.

How did you choose your name entering the convent?

Well, when I was born, my mother named me Camilla Walsh because she had a teacher, named Sister Camilla. And she said, “If ever I had a daughter I’m going to name her Camilla after her.” So here I am. I don’t like it. As I got older, I liked it but I didn’t like it growing up; Camilla, gorilla, how kids are. My confirmation name was Rita. Then when we chose names in religion, I chose Anna David because that was my mother and father’s name. Then in 1965 [after Vatican Council II] we had the opportunity of going back to our own names. I didn’t want to go back to Camilla and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. Everyone was changing so I took my name, Rita. That’s how I am here. I hope when I die, they bury the right one of us, out of all these names.

Do you have a favorite saint? And why?

St. Joseph is my favorite saint, Patron of the Dying. And we all have to do it, you know. I lost a nephew at the age of 23. He had just come home from Vietnam. He and his buddy were out, his buddy was driving and a tractor trailer hit them and killed them both. He came home from Vietnam without one scratch.

Can you tell us a little about your family?

My mother and father were very religious, we were always in church. It was very nice and I fell into this naturally.

I had one sister. My mother and father were pregnant 5 times but only 2 of us made it. My sister and I were 10 years apart. I lived with her the last 7 years of her life when she needed help. I loved it. I had finished teaching, had enough of that, and I was old enough to retire. She was married and had 4 sons and the sons were great. Two of them are still living, my nephews, and they are very good to me.”

Do you have any anecdotes or stories from when you were in high school here?

Well, we were kept very strict. There was no horsing around. We had senior prom right there in the study hall. We were very old fashioned. Everything is “old fashioned” now; it wasn’t old fashioned then. You just didn’t misbehave.

Sister Ann Gertrude was an English teacher and she was tough. You didn’t bat an eyelid in her class. We were all in her class one day and between the double doors you could hear “shhhhh” and everybody was listening and it kept going on, a little sizzling sound. Ann Gertrude picked up her head. Do you know what was going on, what would make fire? An emery board. One of the girls had an emery board and she took it and rubbed it in the keyhole. And that was mortal sin. And Ann Gertrude tore out of that room and into the next room. Dorothy Whaley was there doing it just to torment her, but didn’t know she had been caught. That’s the biggest thing I remember. Poor Dorothy was shoving the emery board in there and Ann Gertrude was there watching her. The rest of us were sitting there in mortal fear. I'm 89 years old and I’ve never forgotten it. Ann Gertrude nearly crucified her. You wouldn’t think twice about something like that now.

Was there a teacher or classmate that made an impact on you? Someone you looked up to?

Sister Patricia Mary McMullen. Do you know McMullen Hall? [the theater] She was my good friend. She taught me Latin IV and she was a good teacher. She was in the convent when I entered. They named McMullen Hall after her because she was the principal of the school for years. She deserves to be recognized. We remained good friends. She was a graduate of the college.

Were there any extracurricular activities at school like a play or sports that you took part in?

I was not a sports person at all. We had plays but they were not too popular. They never caught on. For us to have a play when I was at the Academy was big news. And the news did not grow. And the nuns that were running the school were not into that. It was all academic.

What were your favorite classes or subjects?

English and Latin. I don’t like math or science.

Can you tell us more about your education after high school?

When you enter the convent, they educate you. So I got my college degree through the Sisters of Charity. They sent me through college. They sent me through a Masters in Greek and Latin. Another one in Administration and Supervision from Seton Hall on a full-ride scholarship. So I have a lot of education and much of it paid for by the community, which is very nice. But I gave all these years of service and they said if you enter now, we’ll educate you. Well that sounded good to me.

Where did you teach? Not at the Academy?

No. I’ve taught at many other high schools. I started out in grade school at St. Peter’s Jersey City which is now closed. The next one was St. Peter’s New Brunswick, a high school where I taught Latin. Followed by Bayley Ellard right here down the street. St. Aloysius Jersey City, taught Latin there. I was principal there for 15 years. After that, I went to Marist High School in Bayonne.

And how many total years did you teach?

62 years.

What was your service work as a Sister of Charity?

I taught. Any service I did was right here at home, helping out. But you wouldn’t call it service, you would call it a job. You taught all winter and relaxed all summer.