MISSION Advancing the

INCARNATE WORD ACADEMY FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER WINTER 2022

A LEGACY OF LIVING YOUR FAITH: A MATTER OF DEEDS

By Mary Nicholas Morgan ‘70

Passing through our neighborhood when I was a very young girl, I asked my mother what ‘that’ was (that clearly being an elementary school with children going in and out, playing at recess on the playgrounds). She told me it was Wilson Elementary School and that was a public school for neighborhood children. I asked, “well, why don’t I go there?” She responded that it was a ‘privilege’ that I went to St. Patrick’s School (along with my brothers). I suppose I didn’t understand the concept of privilege so she further explained that they pay taxes so there are good neighborhood public schools (such as she and my father attended) but that they thought it important enough to save their money so that we could be educated well not only in the fundamentals but also in our faith.

My education at IWA provided a good academic foundation with dedicated teachers that knew your capabilities and expected your work to match them. It provided ample opportunities to explore interests in the elective courses and leadership opportunities in extra-curricular activities. Daily occasions (in religion classes) were provided to explore topical matters where almost anything could be discussed as long as you could support your argument and do so respectfully.

After both my parents had passed away, I began doing genealogical research and realized I knew little about their history except that they were both first-generation Americans. Their story is like many (most) immigrant stories – coming to this country to escape extreme poverty, looking for an opportunity and having faith that this would be the case.

My grandparents (who were long deceased by the time I was born) on both sides of the family emigrated from Ireland. Ship manifests show they had little (next to nothing) as assets. Many of them paid for siblings (up to 10) and parents to immigrate. All eventually landed in Chicago, IL.

Both my parents each lost a parent very early in life. They went to public schools. Within a few years of graduating high school, both of my parents served during WWII – my father in the Navy, my mother as a WAC where she was stationed in Marseilles, France. Following the war, they married, left their siblings, and moved to Corpus Christi. My father and a buddy from the war searched for good locations to start a business and they settled on Corpus Christi. He and his partner ran Auto Motor Exchange on S. Port Ave for 35 years. My parents were active in a number of Catholic and civic associations (lifelong members of St. Patrick’s Church, St. Patrick’s Men’s Club, Knights of Columbus, Spohn Hospital, Port Ave. Businessmen’s Association) and humbly lived their faith while quietly helping those less fortunate.

St. Paul said, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?... So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” From my education and being a confirmed Catholic means your faith is a matter of deeds, not words. What a great example my parents were of this.

I cannot imagine a better tribute to both my parents than this scholarship to IWA in their names - Agnes E. and Patrick W. Nicholas Scholarship. To provide a student assistance with tuition so that they can have the “privilege” to attend IWA and learn in such an environment would absolutely delight both Agnes and P.W.