Loretto M A G A Z I N E Fall-Winter 2014
Volume 56, No. 3
Vibrant, accomplished boys and girls attest to 150 years of superb education at St. Mary’s Academy
Mission: Loretto nurses and health-care professionals tell of sacrifice, service
About this issue . . .
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ne of Loretto’s historic academies has begun a full year of celebrations with a splash; pages 11-16. St. Mary’s Academy (SMA), Cherry Hills Village, Colo., turns 150 this year. The doors opened in 1864, and the school has been open ever since to Denver area students of all religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds. It has earned its reputation as one of the premiere parochial academies in the nation and a center of academic excellence. In 2014, Loretto Magazine has focused on many Loretto missions, including individual teaching ministries, shelter and help for homeless women, people who have unusual circumstances and special needs, missions in foreign lands, migrant workers in America and Loretto members who minister to those in prison and those who are victims of crime. Another often unsung “mission” is that of Loretto Community members who were or are now registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurses aides, infirmary administrators and a host of other health-care positions. These came about because of need, and several Lorettos who otherwise would have been teachers, were assigned to serve the sick and aging Loretto Community; pages 4-10.
Contents Loretto’s mission in health-care ministries.....................4 St. Mary’s Academy celebrates 150 years................. 11 Remembrances ..........................................................17 2014 Golf Tournament raises funds and friends..........18 Loretto’s walk among the tombstones.........................20 Memorials & Tributes of Honor....................................22
On the Cover:
Right: A young St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) student is absorbed in his iPad assignment during class. Far right: SMA high school girls enthusiastically celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary. Photos: Scott Dressel-Martin.
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LORETTO COMMUNITY Sisters of Loretto • Co-members of Loretto
We work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us. Loretto Community members teach, nurse, care for the elderly, lobby, minister in hospitals, provide spiirtual direction and counseling, resettle refugees, staff parishes, try to stop this country’s nuclear weapons build-up, work with the rural poor, and minister to handicapped, alcoholic and mentally ill adults. Our ministries are diverse. The Loretto Community, founded in 1812 as the Sisters of Loretto, is a congregation of Catholic vowed Sisters and both lay and vowed Co-members. Loretto Co-members are those who, by mutual commitment, belong to the Community through a sharing of spirit and values and participating in activities that further our mission.
For more information contact: Loretto Community Membership Staff 4000 So. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 Phone: 303-783-0450 Fax: 303-783-0611 Web: www.lorettocommunity.org Loretto Magazine is published three times a year by the Loretto Development Office: Development Director: Denise Ann Clifford SL Communications Director: Jean M. Schildz Data Systems Mgr./Event Coordinator: Kelly Marie Darby Editing, Layout and Production: Carolyn Dunbar Financial Accountant: Chris Molina Special Development Projects: Lydia Peña SL
Advisory Panel: Denise Ann Clifford SL Jean M. Schildz Carolyn Dunbar Rebecca Sallee-Hanson Editorial Office: Loretto Central Office 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 303-783-0450, ext. 1718 Circulation Office: Loretto Staff Office 590 E. Lockwood Ave. Webster Groves, MO 63119 314-962-8112
‘tis the Season!
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f the four seasons, autumn is my favorite. The glorious sunrises/sunsets, horizons and vistas of vibrant colors, warm days, cool evenings and the excitement of the approaching holyday/holiday season. My past years as “Sister Principal” were filled with special memories of Halloween: Fall Festivals, Mission Carnivals, Costume Parades and treats galore filled the day! These events preceded the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls, special days to celebrate those who have “gone before us” and now experience the joys of eternal life with God. We remember those formally acknowledged as “Saint” and those who reflected God’s love for us during their earthly sojourn. Thanksgiving is a feast of gratitude, homecoming, sharing a meal — a beautiful reminder of the Eucharist — God’s family gathered around the Lord’s Table in thanksgiving for the gift of Jesus, feasting on the Body and Blood of Christ. Advent follows — the Church’s New Year — four weeks to “prepare the way” and our hearts to celebrate Jesus’ coming in history, in our personal lives and at the end of time. Be awake and aware of Jesus’ coming in your daily life: the lonely one longing for a listening ear; the hurting one needing a strong shoulder and a hug; the elderly one seeking a steady arm; the homeless one yearning for a hot meal; the sad one searching for a smile; the discouraged one listening for encouraging words. And then there is Christmas. The Son of God takes on our humanity, comes to earth and dwells among us. He was born in a stable, visited by humble shepherds and royalty from the East, exiled to Egypt to escape the massacre of the Innocents, learned carpentry from Joseph, cared for his widowed mother Mary, lived among and taught the people about His heavenly Father while showing us how to live and minister to each other. As you reflect on the articles in this issue of Loretto Magazine, may you be inspired by Community members who are serving others through their ministries to the sick, elderly, poor, destitute and lonely ones among us. May your holiday season be blessed with a renewed awareness of Emmanuel — God within and among us!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Denise Ann Clifford SL
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ow rapidly we move from the beginning of one year to its end! What a gift awaits us as we journey through the ending of this year to the opening of that to come! We look back with gratitude and faith and forward with hope and courage. In faith, we seek the light within the darkness that prevails. Looking back with gratitude and forward with hope and courage is epitomized in the history of St. Mary’s Academy highlighted in this issue. Young people, energized by the living witness of the gospel, continue to bring the presence of Christ to a troubled and suffering world. Likewise, the healing hearts and hands of those who have labored in the “field hospitals” of human needs (as Pope Francis expresses this role) and have embodied the compassion of the living God are not only a historical reality but a current expression of our mission as we welcome and serve the refugees streaming across our borders. Simultaneously, Loretto members continue to invite people of faith to experience life at the border and the pain of those currently crossing borders. Thus we come to know more deeply the suffering Christ in our times. So, how we end one year and begin the next matters! The seasons of Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas nourish our hungering souls and renew our commitment to the Christ calling us forth not only to this coming New Year but to the fulfillment of the evolving creation in the Reign of God! May the blessings and peace of these holy seasons envelop each of you, your families and our world. Prayerfully,
Pearl McGivney SL Fall-Winter 2014 • 3
Loretto Community nurses and caregivers bring a true sense of mission and compassionate service to their work By Carolyn Dunbar
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n the days of yore — before 1965 and the Second Vatican Council — if you had wanted to become a nun who would also be a nurse, you would not have looked to the Sisters of Loretto as your prospective congregation of choice. Loretto began in 1812 as a teaching order and has remained firmly in this commitment for more than 200 years. Education was Loretto’s core mission and long-established way of life. At the zenith of American parochial schools in the 1930s through the 1950s, Loretto had more than 1,200 vowed members, most of them teachers. And because of their professional quality, they were in high demand. During that time, however, and just like any other population, the teaching Sisters were “aging in place” at schools throughout the country. Elderly Loretto Sisters traditionally were cared for in their convents; however, an awareness grew among Loretto leadership that the older Sisters would inevitably require skilled nursing care, support and a more comfortable place to receive this care. It was soon apparent that qualified nurses trained specifically to care for the elderly and infirm would be needed from among the Loretto congregation. Although nursing was never deemed an official Loretto “mission” as such, those Sisters who undertook it did so in the knowledge that their work was fully consonant with the “charism of loving service rooted in Jesus on the cross and Mary at the
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foot of the cross.” Loretto Rules and Constitutions, I Am the Way, Article 1. In 1970 when Loretto welcomed Co-members, several of them were nurses, and others worked in various aspects of health-care delivery. The same is true of Loretto Comembers today, 44 years later. Among 211 Co-members you will find registered nurses, hospice workers, university professors of nursing, nurse practitioners and certified nursing assistants. They, too, go about their work with a sense of mission. Co-member Sonja Earthman Novo told Loretto Magazine of her chaplaincy in hospice care. “Before becoming a Co-member of Loretto, I was a hospice chaplain for seven years and felt like I was working with angels every day. It is the most blessed work, and I still miss it,” she said. “Doing soul work with people of all faiths on their final journey in life was a special privilege. It was holy ground. Like Loretto, our missions [in hospice] are ‘Here I am Lord,’ and ‘I will hold your people in my heart.’” This article explores the ways in which Loretto Community members have brought Loretto values and mission to their tender ministrations.
Entrance to the original St. Joseph’s Infirmary at Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky., which opened in 1949. An additional wing was added in 1981. Photo by Donna Mattingly SL.
The original idea
During the late 1930s the idea of building an infirmary at the Motherhouse in Kentucky took
hold. The Depression and “St. Joseph’s Infirmary” its devastation had made (at the Motherhouse) for a dearth of funds and compared with “St. Joseph meant that a building Infirmary” (the old hospital project would have to in Louisville). Interestingly, be tabled, according to a Quayhagen initially earned written history of Loretto’s her RN diploma in 1962 St. Joseph’s Infirmary at St. Joseph Infirmary provided by Kay Carlew hospital, 18 years after SL, Infirmary director from Jansing finished her studies 1986 to 2006. Although there and passed state the project was on the board exams in 1944. agenda at Loretto’s General Jansing stepped in as the Chapter meeting in 1940, Motherhouse Infirmary’s no decision was made first director of nurses, at that time. A year later remaining at that post for Mother Edwarda Ashe, many years. In addition newly elected as Superior to nursing duties herself, General, began what she she supervised the other called a Sacrifice Fund to caregivers, arranged which she urged the Sisters doctors’ appointments, to contribute. She recorded provided for the spiritual every donation, many as needs of the sick, made Nursing Sisters in Loretto wore white habits in the early days of little as one dollar. By 1945, St. Joseph’s Infirmary at the Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky. This photo, room assignments, with the serene look of a Vermeer painting, was first published the fund had reached more coordinated building in the Summer 1962 edition of Loretto Magazine, page 26. No than $22,000. It remained maintenance and carried out identification or photographer credit was mentioned. active, and a few years later the many responsibilities the fund had raised a grand total of $51,924. that come with running a large facility. She continued as RN administrator until 1966 when she was reassigned to In July 1946 the General Chapter met again and announced the Loretto Infirmary on Lafayette Avenue in St. Louis that provisions had been made to build an infirmary at the Center, said Quayhagen. Motherhouse “as soon as building conditions permit.” More than a year later construction began in earnest, and in June When the first Motherhouse Infirmary residents moved 1949 the first Sisters requiring nursing care were moved in. in, according to written records, some of the earliest The following week the new building was officially blessed nursing staff included Sisters Stella Mary Bru, deLourdes and named “St. Joseph’s Infirmary.” LeHoullier, Monica Marie Ziemba, Alban House, Louis Marie Kroeger, Estelle Marie Mattingly, Regina Rose Early on Sister infirmarians took care of many of the sick, Burke and Agatha Steinmann. Cosmas (Virginia Ann) said Carlew. It was Sienna Jansing SL, however, who Driscoll SL, a registered pharmacist, came on board and was the first Sister of Loretto sent to school to become a worked not just in the pharmacy but performed many other registered nurse. She was educated in nursing at St. Joseph duties as the need would arise. Infirmary School of Nursing in Louisville, Ky., which was then the largest hospital in the state with more than 500 Several Sisters of Loretto who had been sent to study beds, said Mary Pauline Quayhagen SL in an interview nursing during the two-year construction phase had finished with Loretto Magazine. The name of the hospital was their courses and returned to Loretto along with some of almost identical to that of the new Motherhouse Infirmary. those who had been serving as infirmarians in the Loretto
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Quayhagen gave a good picture of the educational environment for Loretto nurses in the early days and after the Second Vatican Council. “Before Vatican II, geriatric (gerontologic) nursing in the Loretto Infirmaries was the only practice arena for Sisters educated as registered nurses. But after Vatican II, as the nurses pursued higher education, other areas of nursing were not only a possibility, but even encouraged by the Loretto leadership. From the core of nursing care in Loretto, Ky., the ‘nursing as a mission’ was expanded by individual Community members from coast to coast and even overseas and into South America,” she said. Quayhagen is also an example of a Loretto nurse who pursued increasing educational opportunities in her field. In fact, she went on from her initial RN diploma to earn her bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) at Spalding College in Louisville in 1968 and her master of science degree in nursing two years later at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1977 she received her Ph.D. in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She is now a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and has taught doctoral students in nursing for many years.
Marie Lourde Steckler SL
Kay Carlew SL
being administrator was being comptroller ... to understand Medicare, Medicaid and the financial aspects of running a skilled nursing facility,” she said. The next major push was for St. Joseph’s Infirmary to become an officially licensed State of Kentucky nursing home. After a lengthy and complicated process, this accreditation was granted in 1975. Schuler was the first administrator appointed after licensure. Before that, several directors of nurses had been in charge, including Marie Lourde Steckler SL, a registered nurse who served the Infirmary for 30 years as director of nurses and many times as staff nurse. In 1981 the Infirmary expanded by 22 beds and sought Medicaid and Medicare licenses. These were granted between 1981 and 1987. Carlew took on the job of administrator in 1986, and for the next 20 years guided the development of the Infirmary’s good reputation for quality health-care delivery and helped maintain its high ratings. During those years, Kay was involved in creating a secure, 11-bed Alzheimer’s unit. She also oversaw the studies and training of nurses and
Photo by Donna Mattingly SL
During the post-Vatican II decade of growth and change for the Loretto Community, Carlew first became involved with the Infirmary in her capacity as Motherhouse comptroller from 1976 through 1986. “The best experience prior to
Photos by Carolyn Dunbar
academies and the larger houses. As time passed and more residents came to the Motherhouse Infirmary, additional administrators and nurses included Sisters Barbara Nicholas, Beth Rush, Susan Carol McDonald, Rose Alma Schuler, Polly Fenwick and Carlew. Also, many Loretto teaching Sisters spent their summers helping out with Infirmary duties to give the regular staff some time off, according to the historical report.
Left: Loretto Academy in St. Louis from 1908 to 1952. After the school closed, the building became a convent for Sisters in St. Louis and an infirmary. In 1988, the building was sold, and the infirmary moved to the Loretto St. Louis Center, 590 E. Lockwood Ave.,right. 6 • Loretto Magazine
caregivers for these patients and the regulations necessary to run an Alzheimer’s facility. Michelle Essex served as Infirmary comptroller under Carlew’s direction, and is today the Motherhouse Infirmary administrator.
Other Loretto infirmaries
In the 1950s and 1960s, three Loretto infirmaries were in operation and staffed by RN administrators. The Motherhouse was first, opening in 1949. In 1952, Loretto Academy at 3407 Lafayette Avenue in St. Louis, an allgirls Catholic high school built in 1908, closed. Those students attending the Academy at that time were invited to join students at Nerinx Hall High School, another Loretto school near Webster College, Webster Groves, Mo. The older building became a Loretto-run daycare center and convent to house retired Sisters of Lorettos. The building included an infirmary with 18 to 20 Sisters as resident patients. In the mid-1950s, Agatha Steinmann SL was transferred from the Motherhouse Infirmary to St. Louis to be the registered nurse there. She was followed in 1964 by Jansing, who nursed at the St. Louis Loretto Infirmary for the remainder of her career. The Loretto Academy facility closed in 1988, and the infirmary was moved to the St. Louis Loretto Center at 590 E. Lockwood Avenue. The old Loretto Academy building opened shortly thereafter as an apartment community for impoverished women and children administered by an association of religious congregations, including Loretto. Changes in federal rent subsidies 20 years later, in 2009, forced the association to disband. In 2010 the historic building on Lafayette was bought and renovated by the Dominican Friars as a formation house for men entering the priesthood or brotherhood. It continues in this pursuit today. The Nazareth Hall Nursing Center opened on the Loretto Academy property in El Paso, Texas, in 1962, also to house and provide personal and intermediate care for retired and chronically ill Sisters of Loretto who wished to live in the Southwest, according to Joy Martinez, who now heads the newer Nazareth Living Care Center. The original facility — always fondly known as Nazareth Hall in Loretto circles, said Martinez — had 50 beds, and 36 Sisters moved into the facility when it first opened 52 years ago. In
“I began my professional career as a Latin/religion
teacher in El Paso, Texas, in 1965, but soon went to New York Medical College Graduate School of nursing and earned my MSN, RN. I graduated in 1970 and returned to El Paso to become the Directress of Nursing Services at Nazareth Hall Nursing Center, a position I held for 15 years. I moved on to the Denver Center in 1985 where I worked for seven years, then to Loretto Motherhouse in 1992, where I worked in the Infirmary for three years and then moved to the Motherhouse to work from 1995 to 2001. At present I am the Volunteer RN Health Care Coordinator caring for the Sisters, which is my passion/mission.” Carol Ann Ptacek SL
RN, MSN, New York Medical College Graduate School of Nursing, New York, NY, 1970 Directress of Nursing Services, Nazareth Hall Nursing Center, El Paso, Texas, 1970-1985
Photo by Joy Martinez
Photo courtesy of Nazareth Living Care Center
Center: Nazareth Hall Nursing Center, El Paso, Texas. The skilled-care facility stretches along an entire city block, complete with its own chapel. Below: The new Nazareth Living Care Center, an expansion of the original property, parts of which are now closed.
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1997, Ascension Health joined the Loretto Community in operating the health ministry. In 2001 ground was broken for a Nazareth Hall expansion, adding 50 new beds and expanded rehabilitation and administrative spaces. The new Nazareth Living Care Center was dedicated in 2002.
A person of significant influence
Photo of St. Joseph’s Infirmary, Loretto Motherhouse, by Donna Mattingly SL
“I love my nursing profession, my mission,
which evolved from bedside nursing in early years to university teaching of doctoral students in nursing. During those years, I also conducted federally funded research with families caring for patients in the early stages of dementia. In retirement, I continue a nursing outreach ministry by phone, Internet or in-person consultation. As a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, I am also able to continue helping influence public policy related to nursing and health care.”
Mary Pauline Quayhagen SL
RN Diploma, St. Joseph Infirmary, Louisville, Ky., 1962 BSN, Spalding College, Louisville, Ky., 1968 MS in Nursing, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1970 Ph.D. in Nursing, UCSF, San Francisco, 1977
“As a CNA I entered someone’s house to
offer the healing help they needed, yet always left with healing for my own spirit ... and a new friend. ... It is important to be actively present and listen with love, leaving my cares outside the doorway. ‘Being present in love’ to a person is what Jesus taught and is a Loretto value.”
Mary Kay Brannan SL
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Emily Griffith Technical College, Denver
It’s impossible to tell the story of Loretto nurses without acknowledging Steckler’s role as a major influence, especially since 1965. Her long devotion to the Motherhouse Infirmary and to the nursing profession surely must have come from her early heart’s desire to be a nurse. Her father’s brother was a dentist in New Orleans. Her brother and his son (Marie Lourde’s nephew) were doctors in Mississippi, and her mother and aunt were nurses, also in Mississippi. “Health care was in our bloodstream,” she said. As a young woman Steckler attended Webster College in Webster Groves, Mo., for two years and then entered Loretto. “I wanted to be like those Sisters I admired so much, and asked to join the convent and was accepted in 1958. I had said all along that I would love to be a nurse, but I knew that the Sisters of Loretto were a teaching community. I wanted to be a Sister of Loretto even if I had to teach instead of nurse. I guess at that time they were trying to get more people to be nurses. Sister Mary Luke Tobin, Loretto Mother General at that time, heard my request, and while I was at the House of Studies, she said, ‘Are you sure you want to do that? Take care of elderly people all your life?’ I told Sister Mary Luke, ‘I want to be a Sister of Loretto, and I prefer to care for the sick, but will gladly cook, sew or teach.’” After the novitiate, Steckler lived at the Loretto House of Studies in St. Louis for two years graduated from Webster in May 1961. “Immediately after graduation, I taught a biology lab class at Webster College. Two days later I moved to Loretto Motherhouse Aug. 14, 1961, right after school had ended,” she said. At St. Joseph’s Infirmary she worked for nine months as a nurse’s aide learning to care for the sick and elderly under Jansing’s tutelage. “She was an RN,” Steckler said, praising her. “I would say, if you want to know a nurse, go see Sister Sienna.” Steckler went on to study for her nursing degree, receiving her RN in 1965. She has been a leading force at the Infirmary for nearly 40 years all told. There were a couple of intermissions when she worked two summers for Frontier Nursing Service in Hyden, Ky., in the Appalachian Mountains, enjoying both hospital and rural clinic work. She also earned a geriatric nurse practitioner certification at Texas Women’s University in Dallas.
“Within Loretto, I have had the opportunity
to accompany people diagnosed with cancer at various times within that experience from early diagnosis to end-oflife matters, wherever/whenever difficult questions seemed to emerge. I think that one of the things I do best is to provide ‘translation’ of medical terminology so that the particular troubling thing becomes more understandable, and the person can grapple with its meaning in their lives. There is such mutuality in our profession, and I believe I continually learn from those to whom I am sent. I feel blessed in the work.”
Carlew, who worked for 10 years as Infirmary comptroller under Schuler’s administration and the next 20 years as Infirmary administrator herself said, “Marie Lourde probably is the one nurse that everyone would love to have at their bedside. She’s compassionate, knowledgeable, gentle. And she has influenced many young nurses and caregivers over the years.” Kentucky RN Nicholas, in a recent interview with Loretto Magazine, said, “Marie Lourde is a wonderful nurse and has been the inspiration for many of us who have had the privilege and opportunity to work with her.” Nicholas also talked about a young nurse who worked under Steckler’s guidance. “Laura Mitchell and her sister, Gail, were two of the very first ‘candy stripers,’ a role developed by Marie Lourde at the Motherhouse Infirmary. Laura went on to become a registered nurse, oncology nurse, nurse practitioner and is presently just about to receive her doctorate in nursing.” Mitchell wrote, “You know that I am one of Sister Marie Lourde’s biggest fans. She is the reason that I am the nurse that I am today. I cannot even imagine the number of young teens who have been positively influenced by her words and actions over the years. I love her and am forever thankful for her mentorship and kindness.” According to a news item in the Summer 2004 edition of Loretto Magazine, “Marie Lourde Steckler SL received a Nursing Excellence Award during the 23rd annual Kentucky Nurse Recognition banquet.” Her co-workers who nominated her wrote, “Sister is in her 39th year of service as a registered nurse to the Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary. Fourteen of those years were as director of nursing. She consistently provides an unsurpassed quality of care for the residents. Her work ethic is second to none. Sister Marie Lourde deeply understands the relationship between body, mind and spirit, and this understanding is reflected in her care and approach with everybody.” As for Steckler, she remembers that “for many years I was told that it [nursing] was not a mission of Loretto. To me it was started for the Sisters. I’m grateful we also have patients who are men and women laypeople. The first one we took, as I recall, was an African American woman in the area who had bilateral amputations. She was in desperate need and without funds, and we were able to take her in. I used to say that Kay Carlew would find the money, and I would spend it for Loretto. And Sister Rose Alma Schuler, as administrator, did the same. I got credit for things I don’t deserve at all.” In 2007 Steckler retired from the Infirmary, but keeps her nursing license current. She remains active today as
Barbara Nicholas SL
RN, BSN, Creighton Univrsity, Omaha, Neb. MSN, Adelphi University, Garden City, Long Island, N.Y.
“I have always chosen to work where I
could continue contact with those with the greatest need, lack of resources or access to health care. My professsional skills, advocacy for, and listening to clients have been a 36-year-long mission that continues today as a retired nurse volunteer in a clinic for those without health insurance.”
Mary Elizabeth Bundy CoL
RN, BSN – Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
“Although my nursing career started at age 55, I considered it the most satisfying of my three careers. After working in the Infirmary at Loretto, I expanded to home health and found it a joy and privilege to serve the elderly in their homes. I felt it was a mission of Loretto to help those in healing and spreading love.”
Patricia M. Freuh SL
Retired nurse in Kentucky
a health-care advocate/surrogate for Loretto Community members, often accompanying individuals to care conferences and doctor’s appointments. Her personal feelings about the nursing profession? “I think it’s respecting the person — and the spirit in that person — and being as compassionate as possible. To give the best skill and the best of humanity to an individual in need. It’s using the best of me, the best of who I am, to meet the needs of whatever I’m facing.”
“I started a nonprofit called Hildegard House,
providing a home and extended family to people with a terminal illness so that they can die with dignity and experience the unconditional love of God. Hildegard House is a home, not a medical facility. Trained volunteers and staff serve as the extended family for each resident. Volunteers assist with activities of daily living, like cooking and housekeeping. Hosparus* provides the care and medications to each resident, just as they would to anyone dying at home. We have a board of directors in place and are now looking at several places to locate.”
Sisters Marie Lourde Steckler (left) and Kay Carlew, two good friends and professional colleagues who worked together for decades, chat about old times at the Motherhouse Infirmary. The Motherhouse in central Kentucky, in fact, has been their home for most of their lives, with brief stints away for schooling or to fulfill work assignments. Each woman has a deep respect for the nursing profession and for those in the Loretto Community, past and present, who have given devoted service.
“I consider it a privilege to relate
with people in matters of health and wellness. I realized a long time ago that the only thing all human beings have in common is the human body, the human spirit; regardless of political persuasion, race, beliefs, sexual orientation or geography, this is what we share. As a nurse, I have met and worked with a wide variety of people and in a wide variety of circumstances. It is challenging. It is fun!”
*For more than 30 years, Hosparus, a fully accredited nonprofit hospice organization, has provided care, comfort and counseling for people facing life-limiting illnesses in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Hosparus cares for more than 5,500 patients and their families each year.
Karen Cassidy CoL
RN, MSN, MBA, EdD, Boston University Geriatric and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner University of Louisvlle, Department of Geriatrics Executive Director, Hildegard House, Inc., Louisville, Ky.
10 • Loretto Magazine
Mary Louise Denny SL
BA, Webster University, Webster Groves, Mo. RN, DePaul Hospital School of Nursing, St. Louis Home Health Care/Advocate, St. Louis
Yesterday... L
oretto’s St. Mary’s Academy has welcomed Colorado students for 150 years. The doors opened Aug. 1, 1864, and they have remained open to educate and graduate many thousands of children from all religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds. The school year 2014-2015 is an entire year of celebrations and events to mark this milestone. From yesterday to today and tomorrow, St. Mary’s Academy prepares young people for life in a changing, challenging world.
A
A. 1864: “The White House,” a two-story framed home on the corner of 14th and California Streets in downtown Denver, served as convent and school. The school opened with 20 boarders and a number of day students. Photo: St. Mary’s Academy Archives. B. 1881: After several stages of construction, St. Mary’s Academy was an imposing building taking up nearly the entire block. By the mid-1880s, there were 100 boarders and 125 day students. Photo: The Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, #F-27533. C. 1891: Loretto Heights Academy was built to accommodate the boarders of St. Mary’s Academy. The campus evolved into Loretto Heights College. Photo: Loretto Heights College Photographic Materials, Archives and Special Collections, Regis University.
B
D. 1911: St. Mary’s Academy built a new facility at 1370 Pennsylvania Street at the encouragement of their neighbor Margaret “Molly” Brown. Photo: St. Mary’s Academy Collection. Ph. 00364 (Scan #10030254), History Colorado, Denver, Colo. E. 1951-Present: Thriving at 4545 So. University Blvd, Cherry Hills Village, a Denver suburb. Photo: Scott Dressel-Martin. continued on p.12
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C
D Fall-Winter 2014 • 11
Today...
St. Mary’s striving for
“Through insightful leadership and community support, today’s students enjoy robust learning environments and look forward to beginning the 2015–16 school year with a new community center, currently under construction.” — Regina Drey SL
Aerial photo: Altitude Filmworks. Photo at left: Scott Dressel-Martin.
...and To
St. Mary’s Academy students take the playing field to form giant numbers marking t located in the Denver suburb of Cherry Hills Village, offers one of the most striking 12 • Loretto Magazine
Academy is still building, thriving, excellence in its 150th year
omorrow...
By Regina Drey SL
A
mid tearful farewells and prayers for a safe journey, three travelers left Santa Fe, N.M., on June 22, 1864, for a five-day journey by mail coach that would change dusty Denver City forever. Sisters of Loretto Joanna Walsh, Ignatia Mora and Beatriz Maes-Torres would make history at a time when education was taking hold and Catholic Sisters were an anomaly in the Colorado Territory. They would found St. Mary’s Academy, which has continuously educated Denver students for 150 years.
The arrival of the mail coach at the Sisters’ Santa Fe convent brought Father Joseph P. Machebeuf’s dream of establishing a Catholic school in Colorado Territory one step closer to reality. In 1860, Machebeuf had left Santa Fe to head the Catholic Church in the Colorado and Utah Territories. He and his fellow Frenchman, Father Jean B. Raverdy, traveled to Denver City to establish St. Mary’s Church. Located at 15th and Stout Streets, the church was a precursor to Father Machebeuf’s efforts to establish schools. continued on p.14
Regina Drey SL is Historian and Director of Loretto Projects at St. Mary’s Academy. The article printed here is part of a longer piece that appeared in Colorado Heritage, September/October 2014 (Denver: History Colorado, 2014).
their school’s 150th anniversary. The Academy, vistas of any school along the Front Range corridor. Fall-Winter 2014 • 13
the south side of California Street between E and F Streets (today’s 14th and 15th), and facing the sweeping prairie. The Sisters assumed the debt on the house, and two months into living there, Sister Joanna wrote of the “tremendous weight on our shoulders, never before having owed a cent to anyone.” Known to the townspeople as the “Sisters’ School” and to the Sisters as “the White House,” the home served as convent, boarding student residence, and day school (p. 11, photo A). An advertisement in the Rocky Mountain News in 1864 announced a “healthy and pleasant” location and a comprehensive Very young marching band of St. Mary’s Academy students, circa 1938. Photo: St. Mary’s Collection. Ph. 00364 (Scan #10026210), History Colorado, Denver, Colo. academic curriculum enhanced by piano or guitar, French or Spanish, Father Machebeuf invited the Sisters of Loretto to help start and drawing, painting, embroidery, and other fancy work. Tuition for day students was $3 per month for primary a school in Denver. The Sisters, whose order was founded grades and $4 for the upper grades. Boarding students paid on the Kentucky frontier in 1812, inspired him, and he $120 per term. Under the “mild and efficient care of the believed they reflected the kind of resilience and courage Sisters of Loretto,” St. Mary’s Academy, like other Loretto the city needed at that time. Their tenacity and bravery schools, welcomed students of all faiths. were familiar to him — he knew of their work in starting Our Lady of Light Academy in Santa Fe in 1852, and in St. Mary’s Academy opened on August 1, 1864, 12 years to 1858 he had accompanied four newly assigned teaching the day before Colorado became the 38th state. And its first Sisters on the hazardous route from Kentucky to Santa Fe. educational milestone came in 1875. Eleven years after it As it happened, in that group he made the acquaintance of opened, St. Mary’s Academy awarded the Colorado TerriSister Joanna Walsh, who six years later would be one of tory’s first diploma — high school or college — to Jessie the founders of St. Mary’s Academy in Denver. Forshee on June 27. Some time after graduation Jessie joined the Sisters of Loretto, taking the name Sister Vitalis. On that June morning in 1864, Sister Joanna, along with She earned advanced degrees, helped establish a teachers’ Sisters Ignatia and Beatriz, left for Denver with their college for Sisters, served as dean at Webster College in St. few possessions packed in a single trunk. Santa Fe was a Louis, and taught nearly every academic subject. In later beloved home for the New Mexico natives Sisters Ignatia years, her colleagues sometimes referred to her as a “walkand Beatriz, and Joanna had spent the last nine years there ing encyclopedia.” teaching at Our Lady of Light Academy. None of the Sisters had any experience in the “wilds” of Colorado, and Almost from the beginning, the school needed classrooms, their sad departure was the beginning of a tough five-day music rooms, reception areas, and other spaces to keep pace trip marked by hot days in the cramped mail coach pulled with the expansive academic program. Initially, small strucby mules. tures and additions to the White House met the school’s needs. In 1880, however, building projects begun after the The Sisters arrived in Denver on June 27, 1864, representfire in 1867 culminated in an impressive building designed ing the first order of Catholic Sisters to come to Colorado. by J. C. Casper, described by the Rocky Mountain News on The women moved into the former residence of George W. Clayton, which William H. Jones, writing in The History of Jan. 1, 1881: Catholic Education in the State of Colorado, describes as The building is of brick but its front is gorgeously and the largest dwelling in the territory at the time. Purchased artistically trimmed with white stone, being surmounted by Father Machebeuf for $4,000, the two-story frame house by a slated French roof and galvanized sheet iron with a picket fence was located on the edge of town on 14 • Loretto Magazine
cornice of very tasty design, and a belfry high above. ... The building will be heated by steam. Its ventilation is said to be almost perfect. The arrangement of the whole is such that the three buildings are in easy communication as though they were in reality but one.
on a new branch of the railroad that stopped a short walk from the future school. When seeking a more leisurely pace, they went by carriage to Sheridan Heights, which the school newspaper rated as the finest carriage drive in the vicinity.
The building and surrounding grounds covered a large portion of the land between 14th and 15th Streets (p. 11, photo B).
Architect Frank E. Edbrooke designed the boarding school’s red sandstone building, with its imposing 10-story tower visible from many spots in Denver. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the campus is now home to Colorado Heights University. Reminders of Loretto’s presence on this land can be found today in the Sisters of Loretto cemetery, tucked away on the northwest corner of the campus (see related story, p. 20).
The school’s growth in the 1880s paralleled the city’s prosperity. By 1884, an enrollment of 100 boarders and 125 day students prompted the school’s leadership to consider building a separate suburban campus for boarding students and maintaining the downtown location as a select day school. In July that year, the Rocky Mountain News reported the Sisters of Loretto “have been feeling the need of larger facilities for work and of a boarding school more free from the dangerous features which always associate themselves with the center of a large city.” The article further cited initial negotiations for land in Villa Park, deemed by the writer as a beautiful suburb and favorable site. Four years later the Sisters chose to locate the new campus at Sheridan Heights, seven miles southwest of Denver, with views of Fort Logan. The new campus would make its own history as Loretto Heights Academy and, a few years later, the well-regarded Loretto Heights College (p. 11, photo C). The 45-acre Loretto Heights Academy campus, with commanding views of the Rocky Mountains, opened in 1891. In the months before construction, Sisters and students would picnic at the site, traveling from downtown Denver
Recess at the Pennsylvania Street campus in 1936. Photo: St. Mary’s Academy Collection. Ph. 00364 (Scan #10042945), History Colorado, Denver, Colo.
The progress of St. Mary’s Academy and Loretto Heights Academy — like development throughout Colorado — was significantly curtailed with the devaluation of silver in 1893, and the Sisters of Loretto feared the possibility of defaulting on loans due on the new boarding school. The community’s leadership skillfully negotiated with bankers, and slowly both schools flourished again. Central to the success of both institutions was Sister Pancratia Bonfils, a native of St. Louis and first cousin of Frederick G. Bonfils, founder and longtime editor and publisher of The Denver Post. Joining Loretto at age 13, her first teaching assignment two years later brought her to St. Mary’s Academy. Her leadership shaped Loretto Heights Academy, and in 1918 her dream of a college for young women was realized with the opening of Loretto Heights College. She took on the title of Mother when she assumed leadership roles in the school and convent. Buying property and directing the construction of buildings were well-honed skills by the time Mother Pancratia led the school to a new campus on Capitol Hill. Over the years, the first wood-frame building once on the edge of Denver City had evolved into a stately building with beautiful grounds. The school was now part of an ever-growing, bustling downtown. The Sisters, however, desired a location more conducive to learning. With St. Mary’s Academy seeking a home, Mother Pancratia’s friend Margaret Brown suggested the empty lot at 1370 Pennsylvania St., next door to her home. She also contributed financially to the project. The year before the school opened in September 1911, letters flew back and forth among architects, contractors, building inspectors, and Loretto leaders discussing construction, safety features and aesthetics. They slowly made decisions about bricks, moulding, Tiffany-style lamps and the installation of more than 1,900 square feet of Venetian continued on p.16
Fall-Winter 2014 • 15
. . . the dream goes on! blinds. With student safety a priority, the addition of metal stairs, fireproof doors in classrooms, and fire doors in halls and corridors proved valuable assets when a fire in 1916 caused only minimal damage (p. 11, photo D). The four-story, Neoclassical red-brick building with a shady backyard offered what the quiet school leaders had been looking for. Spacious classrooms, well-equipped science and art labs, and attractive architectural features
Students enjoy a fall afternoon on campus. Photo: Scott DresselMartin.
graced the building. On an upper floor was a museum with 400 mineral and numerous botanical specimens donated by the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the outdoor space, students built a stone grotto to house a statue of Mary given to the school by the mother of a student who died in her junior year. The statue now graces the Circle Drive on the current campus. The move to University Boulevard, like earlier relocations, enabled the school to grow. The school building in Capitol Hill was sold to the F. W. Woolworth Co. in 1951 for regional offices, and after years as office space for businesses and professional organizations, it eventually became home to the Intermountain Divisional Headquarters of the Salvation Army. In choosing the next site for St. Mary’s Academy, several areas in Denver were serious contenders. But first choice was Lorena and Allan Ramsey Hickerson’s property in Cherry Hills Village, with a large home that could immediately serve as a school and residence for the Sisters. The estate’s 10 acres were a good start toward the 24-acre campus of today. Longview — as the family called the property — was surrounded by open land and exquisite views, including the tower of Loretto Heights College to the northwest, a reminder of the school’s early days. The move from Pennsylvania Street to South University Boulevard took place in the summer of 1951 (p. 11, photo E). A year after moving to University Boulevard, a new classroom building housed the entire school and a vision for the future was taking shape. Through insightful leadership and community support, today’s students enjoy robust learning environments and look forward to beginning the 2015–16 school year with a new community center, currently under construction. Through all the years, the moves, the growth, and the challenges, generations of children have attended and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy. What started as a dream of a few people in the nascent city of Denver is today a thriving, vibrant school community. What was once a small, twostory “White House” is today five buildings on 24 acres of land south of the original downtown campus. A school that started with only a handful of pupils today includes more than 600 students. On August 1, 1864, St. Mary’s Academy opened as a school for the children of Denver — 150 years later, the dream continues.
Three large banners easily seen from the street publicize St. Mary’s Academy 150th anniversary. Photo: Regina Drey SL.
16 • Loretto Magazine
loretto community members to remember
Margaret Ann Hummel SL (formerly Sister Marie Daniel, Sisters of Charity) March 17, 1932 — July 26, 2014
Margaret Ann Hummel and her twin sister Rose Marie were born on St. Patrick’s Day 1932 in Louisville, Ky., to Norbert Daniel Hummel, Sr., and Margaret Maloney Hummel. Margaret Ann’s older sisters, Mary Jane and Pat, entered the Loretto Congregation in the mid-1940s. Rose Marie married in 1954 and Margaret Ann entered the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in Charleston, S.C., that year. In 1988 she finalized the transfer process to become a Sister of Loretto. Sister Margaret Ann served as Loretto’s Director of Development from 1988 to 1996. In 2008 she moved into the Motherhouse Infirmary, where she enjoyed Kentucky days until her death six years later on July 26, 2014. She was 82 years old and in her 59th of vowed life and her 29th year as a Sister of Loretto. Complete remembrances are posted on the Loretto website, www.lorettocommunity.org. M. Eloise Jarvis SL
Nov. 3, 1922 — Oct. 21, 2014
Eloise Jarvis was the eldest of two daughters born to Dr. Henry Jarvis and Mary Wheatley Jarvis in Harrisburg, Ill. Eloise showed musical gifts at an early age and performed on flute and piano in high school in Harrisburg. She entered the Sisters of Loretto soon after graduation. In 1943 she earned her bachelor’s degree in music from Loretto’s Webster College, Webster Groves, Mo. She taught music at high schools in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. During that time Eloise won a scholarship to the University of Rochester, N.Y., Eastman School of Music where, in 1954, she completed her master’s degree in performance and music literature, and in 1960 her Ph.D. in musicology. In 1956 she joined the music faculty at Webster College, retiring with professor emeritus status in 1995. Eloise moved to the Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary in 2011. She died quietly Oct. 21, 2014, in the company of her Loretto Community. She was 91 years old and in her 71st year as a Sister of Loretto.
Helen Ann Reynolds SL
May 17, 1918 — Aug. 21, 2014
Helen Ann Reynolds was born May 17, 1918, in Rockford, Ill. She was one of four daughters and two sons of Thomas Reynolds and Marie Ellen Hennessey Reynolds. Helen Ann entered the Sisters of Loretto in 1936. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from DePaul University in Chicago in 1950; a master’s in education from St. Mary College, Xavier, Kan., in 1962; and a master’s in guidance and counseling from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1969. She had three main ministries in her life: teaching elementary grades, counseling and teaching Native American tribes, and volunteering as a pet therapist, dog trainer and pet educator. In 2006 Helen Ann moved to the Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary, Nerinx., Ky., where she resided until her death eight years later on Aug. 21, 2014. She was 96 years old and in her 78th year as a Sister of Loretto.
Jim Schumacher CoL
March 27, 1930 — Nov. 2, 2014
Jim Schumacher was born in St. Louis on March 27, 1930, the fourth of five children of George J. and Louise Bender Schumacher. Passionate about civil injustice, Jim entered the seminary and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1956 for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He was pastor at St. Mark’s and St. Henry’s, both African American parishes. Jim was active in civil rights throughout the 1960s locally and nationally. He developed friendships along the way with members of the Loretto Community. In 1974 he left the priesthood and worked for 23 years as a social worker in the Foster Care unit of the Missouri Division of Family services. In 1975 he met and married Mary Roberts, the former Loretto Sister Marian Jeanne. They became Loretto Co-members in 2004. Jim died in St. Louis on Nov. 2, 2014, following a long illness. He was 84 years old and in his 10th year as a Loretto Co-member.
Frances (George) Zoghby SL March 4, 1923 — Oct. 29, 2014
Frances Gertrude Zoghby was born March 14, 1923, in Mobile, Ala., to George Zoghby and Emma Kahalley Zoghby. Frances began her association with the Sisters of Loretto at Immaculate Conception Grade School and Bishop Toolen High School in Mobile, graduating in 1940. In 1946 she was received into the Loretto Novitiate and made final vows in 1951. Frances taught in Illinois, New Mexico and Denver, during which time she attended Barat College in Chicago, then Loretto Heights College, Denver, earning her bachelor’s degree in education in 1966. That year she returned to Alabama to teach. She formed a working partnership with Pat Buetenbach SL, superior and principal of Christ the King School in Daphne, Ala. They moved to Denver in 1972 and worked in St. John’s parish school. In 1977 they began a 20-year collaboration as consultants for the World Book Child Craft Collections. Sister Frances moved to the Motherhouse in 2000 and enjoyed many years there until her death Oct. 29, 2014. She was 91 years old and in her 68th year as a Sister of Loretto.
Fall-Winter 2014 • 17
Golf Tournament raises more than $14,300 for retired Sisters of Loretto The Loretto 2014 Golf Tournament was SUCCESSFUL because of our planning committee, volunteers, golfers, donors, sponsors, friends new and old, and the Loretto Community. By Kelly Marie Darby Event Coordinator, Loretto Development Office
O
ver the years I have coordinated many events, but never a golf tournament. In fact, I don’t even golf. Despite my newcomer status, the tournament was a success, due in great measure to our hard-working 2014 Loretto Golf Tournament Committee members (Dan Clem, Denise Ann Clifford SL, Jane Kosters CoL, Kam Martin, Chris Molina, Mike and Priscilla O’Leary, Mark Trail and Ken Werth). The committee was incredible! They were diligent in meeting every month and helped recruit 117 golfers, increase sponsorships and secure donation items for the auction. A crew of amazing volunteers worked in a variety of areas to make the tournament run smoothly. The golfers — old friends and new — arrived in the early morning hours ready to “Swing into Action” to help the Sisters Retirement Fund. And the Loretto Community who prayed for good weather. Your prayers were answered with magnificent weather! One of the highlights at a golf tournament is winning. We congratulate the following golfers: First Place Men’s Team: Steve Beaudoin, Rick Matisick, Jeff Van I Warden and Daryl Van I Warden First Place Women’s Team: Kim Vance, Di Nestel, Jan Johnson and Ceal Barry First Place Mixed Team: Dan Clem, Shelly Clem, Rod Rucker and Kevin Millar Closest-to-the-Pin Women’s Award: Shelly Hitchcock Closest-to-the-Pin Men’s Award: Ken Ash This tournament will be a tough one to beat, but I am looking forward to the challenge in 2015 for our 20th Annual Loretto Golf Tournament!
Sometimes golf is about taking full advantage of the open air, and sometimes it’s about . . . fishing! Photos at left by Carolyn Dunbar. 18 • Loretto Magazine
First Place Women’s Team
First Place Men’s Team
Background photo by Donna Mattingly SL. Team photos at right by Lannie Adelman.
First Place Mixed Team
Fall-Winter 2014 • 19
Good Samaritans, generous donors and elbow grease restore cemetery on former Loretto Heights College campus By Mary Nelle Gage SL
A
Photos by Ruth Routten CoL
t the northwest corner of the former Loretto Heights College (LHC) campus in west Denver lies the cemetery where 62 Sisters of Loretto were buried between 1898 and 1969. The metal gate that opens to this hallowed ground is a relic from the first St. Mary’s Academy building at 15th and California Street in downtown Denver. In 1990, LHC was bought by Tokyobased Teikyo University Group. As the new owners of the property, the Teikyo group renovated the buildings and grounds. High priority was given to the cemetery, in keeping with Japanese culture. The property is now the site of Colorado Heights University. In the intervening 24 years, the effects of time and climate became evident. Lydia Peña SL brought to the attention of the Spirit of Loretto Committee that 60 of the 62 gravestones (two granite, 60 concrete) were in dire need
Sister Mary Nelle with Bill Irwin of Colorado Pottery and Concrete, Golden, Colo., who made five new headstones.
20 • Loretto Magazine
Landscaper Tan Tran, far right, and his crew help muscle in new concrete grave markers at the small cemetery for Sisters of Loretto on the Colorado Heights University property. Mary Nelle Gage SL, by fence, digs out a patch of turf to prepare for a gravel base.
of refurbishing. The headstones mark the graves of Sisters who had lived, served and died in the Denver area between the 1870s and the 1960s. They were primarily teachers at St. Mary’s Academy and Loretto Heights College, including Mother Pancratia Bonfils, who chose the site on the hill and supervised the beginnings of the Heights; Frances Marie Walsh SL, president of the college from 1946 to 1964; and Francis DeSales McGarry SL and Cecille Reddin SL, both alumnae who later returned to become deans of the college. The Spirit of Loretto Committee secured both monetary contributions as well as gallons of paint donated by neighborhood Home Depot stores. Sister Lydia enlisted the help of the Colorado Heights University Facilities Manager José Gallegos. But as his staff began the scraping process, it
became evident that the old peeling paint was lead-based. Bill Fox and his Colorado Cleanup and Remediation Co. tested and then removed the old paint. Sister Lydia was able to secure a sizeable in-kind donation for the testing and monetary contributions for the removal kits. Five of the concrete markers had crumbled and needed replacing. Since the search for the original casting mold at the Heights was unsuccessful, Ruth Routten CoL and I undertook to find someone who could fashion a new mold and cast five headstones. Finally, Bill Irwin of Colorado Pottery and Concrete in Golden, Colo., agreed to tackle the job. “If I hadn’t been raised Catholic, I was going to tell you girls to keep on going down the road; I knew how much work this would be,” he said.
The life-size crucifix in the middle of the cemetery — not made of cement — needed special treatment. Home Depot staff recommended a process and product. The manager discounted the materials after Ruth and I showed him the cemetery pictures and told the story of Loretto’s history. Also, Gallegos and his Colorado Heights University staff had scraped and painted 55 stones as well as trimmed the trees and mowed the lawns in time for the LHC Alumnae Reunion in mid-July. By late August, Irwin had completed the gravestone mold to match the originals and turned out five perfect markers. Irwin suggested that the concrete monuments be set on a bed of gravel to offset the effects of moisture seeping up from the ground. In early September, Ruth and I took a truckload of buckets to Pioneer Sand and Gravel to obtain the gravel. Again, the story and the photos landed a discount. Irwin and a friend managed to load the five 400-pound stones with a forklift onto my pickup. Loretto’s long-time Vietnamese friend, Tan Tran, and his six-man landscaping crew arrived at the cemetery early on a Saturday morning. Ruth, Mary Nelle, and the men filled the holes with the gravel and wrestled the stones off the truck and into each designated place. Mission accomplished!
The Gateless Gate The great path has no gates, Thousands of roads enter it. When one passes through this gateless gate One walks freely between heaven and earth. — Mu-Mon
Historic iron gate from the first St. Mary’s Academy in Denver in 1864 now opens onto a cemetery on former Loretto Heights College grounds where 62 Sisters were laid to rest between 1898 and 1969.
(1865-1929), a Kentucky native and LHC president from 1925 to 1929; Aimee Hynes SL (1868-1930), a St. Louis native and St. Mary’s Academy teacher; Ludmilla Lehritter SL (18671927), a native of Bavaria, Germany, who served at LHC; Teresa Augusta Owings SL (1861-1899), a native of Alton, Ill., and “the artist of the Society”; and Lua Kelleher SL (18881912), a native of Ireland who served at LHC. Center: From left, Sisters Mary Nelle Gage and Lydia Peña with Co-member Ruth Routten. Below: From right, Ricky Lujan and George Martinez of the Colorado Heights University grounds crew who scraped, prepared and freshly painted every grave marker.
Now the crumbling headstones have been replaced with new ones from the hands of master craftsman Irwin, whose artistic labor was paid for by LHC Class of 1952 alumna Helen Clare Kurtz Sillstrop and several donors solicited by Sister Lydia on behalf of the Spirit of Loretto Committee. The correct nameplates will be placed on each new marker to honor Mother Eustacia Elder Fall-Winter 2014 • 21
gifts
Memorials and Tributes of Honor June – September 2014 In Memory of: Requested by: Robert W. Allan Marguerite Allan Kay & Bernie Ambre Mary & Joseph Highland Mary & John Antoine Albert & Valerie Antoine Ellen Barry Ballard Mary Ann Wyrsch Rose Celeste Block SL Lesley Block OP Mary Boland Sally K. Brown Edwardine Boone SL Rose Mary & Tom Wargel Grace Boone SL Rose Mary & Tom Wargel Rosita Boone SL Rose Mary & Tom Wargel Bartholomew Brown SL Robert L. Goodin Carpenter & Feeney family members Virginia Carpenter John Michael Carpenter The Loretto Community Nerinckx Marie Carr SL Margaret & Raymond Cicirelli Jim Carrigan Patricia McCormick SL Mary Jane and Lisa Cella Patsy & Bernie Michalek Margaret Cloonan The Loretto Community Mariella Collins SL Joan & Walter Burtelow Aline Dalton SL Margaret Brisnehan Knights of Columbus, Ladies Auxiliary 10122 Ken Werth, Ken’s Welding Millie Dampf Donald Dampf 22 • Loretto Magazine
Throughout this list of Memorials and Tributes, an asterisk ( *) following a name identifies that person as a Loretto Co-member.
Our father, Everett E. Darby Jack, Kelly & Chad Darby Michael Mary Dea SL Anne & Tom Dea My Aunt, Patricia Denny SL John Wrobel Jeannette Marie Donnelly SL Susan Evans Julia Dooling SL Rev. Msgr. Leo Horrigan Margaret Grace Elsey SL Jean Bradac Jeannie Courchene Mary Ely SL Mary Ann Sullivan Deceased Evans family members Susan Evans Emmett Evans, Jr. Susan D. Evans Rosemary Fiori SL Anonymous Margaret Fitzgerald SL The Loretto Community Mary & Margaret Fitzpatrick Mary & R.J. Nalty My wife, Carlotta Marie (Lubeck) Fugazzi Ronald Fugazzi Jody Ritter Gates George I. Gates, Jr. Margaret Grant* Becky (Grant), Greg Hastings & family Antonella M. Gutterres SL Betty & Bill Samaritano Vincent Harding The Loretto Community Marie Noël Hebert SL James Hebert Jack Heruska Jane Kosters*
Clare & Earl Highland Mary & Joseph Highland Margaret Ann Hummel SL Anonymous Ann & Tim Bizzell Joseph Burke Martha & Charlie Corrigan Joanne & Ronald Curry Colette & Tom Dumstorf Helen & Dennis Hardy Jane & Norbert Hummel Suzanne & Robert Levonian The Loretto Community The Loretto Development Office Ann Johnson SL Msgr. James Rasby Bernice Juen SL Miriam Chen Mary Kaiser Adrienne Matcham Martha Ann Koch SL Dennis Gallagher Mountain View Dental, Dr. Runnings Abby Marie Lanners Patricia & Larry Lanners My parents Betty & Jack Leonard Elizabeth Leonard-St. John Paschalita Linehan SL Anonymous Katherine Carley Loretto Academy Middle School, El Paso, Texas School Students All the Sisters of Loretto McDonald Family Trust All the Sisters of Loretto, living and deceased, who were born in Lebanon, Ky.
Jeanette & James Greenwell All the Sisters of Loretto who taught me Verlene D. Rogalin The Loretto teachers who taught me & my children Jeanette & James Greenwell Carlos Marie Lubeck SL Mary & Richard Creasy Ronald Fugazzi Mary & Ed Madden John Erger My wife, Mary Ann Coffey McGillis John W. McGillis My husband, Bill Minelli Sally Minelli My sister, Elizabeth Monfort Kam Monfort Martin My grandmother, Katie Mullen Paul Mayes, Owner, Katie Mullen’s Irish Pub Lois Elliott O’Connor James O’Connor Kelly O’Leary Theresa Cannon Linda Olwell Mary Jo & Larry Nejasmich Therese Stawowy* Abelicio (Abe) Peña Maxine & Fred Davine The Loretto Community Kam & Mike Martin Magdalen Shamshad Peter Kathleen Wright SL The Loretto Community
gifts
Vicki Quatmann SL Toni Walters Helen Ann Reynolds SL The Joseph DiMario Family John & Marie Kodadek The Loretto Community Sara A. Reynolds Jane Marie Richardson SL Diana Snell Alma & Marius Risley Christine & David Wagner My husband, Richard E. Salsbury Estela Salsbury Mary & Frank Schiavo Debra & Paul Schiavo Mr. & Mrs. Paul M. Schmidt Regina H. Schmidt Magdalen Mary Skees SL Shelia O’DonnellSchuster Anton Slechticky SL Robert L. Goodin Joan & Josef Sprung & Family Emma & George Steen Patty Smith Sullivan The Loretto Community Susan Swain SL Anonymous Jeanne Sward Thebado Charlotte (Scavarda) Kilpatrick Agnes Dalton Thoben Martha Kannapell Barbara Mayer Alma Schuler* Christine Thompson SL Rev. Msgr. Leo Horrigan Eugenia Thompson SL Miriam Chen Mary Luke Tobin SL Barbara Warner Deceased members of the Toolen family Patti Toolen Kratschmer
Carina Vetter SL Dolores Ferrell The Loretto Community Janice Weber Ralph E. Vonderhaar SJ The Loretto Community
Alma Schuler* Charles Maureen Walker SL Francis Candlin Elizabeth Wiehe Madelaine & Henry Kelly
Marita Woodruff* Elizabeth Connor* Martha Wright Nancy & Ken Tegtmeier My wife, Mary Ann Zgiet Victor Zgiet
Pat Kenoyer* Barbara Warner Margaret Rose Knoll SL, 100th Birthday Laura K. Henson Carol E. Johnson Mary Ann Knoll Anna Koop SL, Birthday Mary Sue Anderson My four daughters, three grandsons & partner Elizabeth Leonard-St. John All the Sisters of Loretto Sharon & Tom Hernandez Layne Lohmar McDonald Family Trust All the Sisters of Loretto who taught at St. Augustine School, Lebanon, Ky. Jeanette & James Greenwell All the Sisters of Loretto who taught me Verlene D. Rogalin The Sisters of Loretto Dolores Ferrell The Sisters of Loretto’s wonderful work Molly Markert Marian McAvoy SL Carroll McAvoy Bollard Pat McShea* The Loretto Community
Heather & Mary Jo Moana Mary & Joseph Highland Quentin Olwell Therese Stawowy* Lydia Peña SL, 80th Birthday Mary Heesacker Dorothy Lamm Kam & Mike Martin Mary Kay Murphy Essie & Jordon Perlmutter Bernadette & Roger Seick Mary & George Sissel Spirit Spirit of Loretto Committee Jill Tietjen Patricia (Kelliher) Tripeny Iffat Peter Kathleen Wright SL Bette Peterson Joe Peterson Marie Joann Rekart SL Lisa Stumm Barbara Schulte SL Joan & George Trembath Agnes Ann Schum’s SL, 60th Jubilee Eleanor Begley Deborah & David George Marlene Spero SL Barbara Gene Fitzpatrick
In Honor of: Requested by: Guadalupe Arciniega SL Anonymous Nancy Jo Whitlock Adeena & Amara Bila Steve F. Sheridan Mary E. (Buffy) Boesen SL Jo Ann & Joseph Furay Mary Kay Brannan SL Karen & Kurt Musgrave Carpenter & Feeney Family Virginia Carpenter Denise Ann Clifford SL Fr. Bernard Meyer Elizabeth Ann Compton SL Dolores Ferrell Micah Daniels & Family Sally Minelli Kelly Marie Darby Scott Zimmerman Donna Day SL Susan & Dennis Cuddihee My wife, Kaye Edwards* David Edwards* Benedicta Feeney SL Mary Jane Clabots Maureen Fiedler SL Thomas Bower Jeannine Gramick SL Thomas Bower Terry O’Bryan Joseph Highland Mary & Joseph Highland Jean Kelley SL, 70th Jubilee Thomas X. Kelley
Fall-Winter 2014 • 23
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