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Alumnae Spotlight: 100 Years Young
ALUMNAE SPOTLIGHT:
100 YEARS Young
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Rosemary Petre Brunette Nell Schindler Ayers
Two SCA centenarians have seen many changes during their ten decades of life. Surrounded by the love of God and family, graduates Rosemary Petre Brunette ’40 and Nell Schindler Ayers ’40 are full of gratitude and hope.
ROSEMARY PETRE BRUNETTE
Rosemary Brunette started a family tradition: after she herself attended St. Cecilia, she encouraged so many children, grandchildren, sisters, nieces and great-nieces to attend that it is hard to keep track of them all.
Rosemary, or “Grammie Rose” as current SCA history teacher Sara Brunette Strobel ’01 calls her grandmother, was born on the family farm in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville on June 6, 1921. As one of eight children, she assumed regular farm chores and was an active member at Church of the Assumption. When it was time for high school, Rosemary walked the mile or so to St. Cecilia Academy, where she became fast friends with the other students as well as the Dominican Sisters. “The sisters were so sweet and patient,” she says. She loved them all and still remembers acting as Sister Hildegarde’s flower girl at Sister’s first profession of vows. Rosie was known as an active and lively student. She recalls learning all the latest dance steps from her dad – waltz, fox trot, and polka – and teaching those to her friends at SCA. As her daughter-in-law Anne Love Brunette ’72 relates, “Rosie had good friends and good times and a great education.” Graduating from St. Cecilia in 1940, Rosemary continued her education and graduated from St. Thomas Hospital Nursing School. When World War II began, she entered the Navy as an ensign and served as a nurse in Portsmouth, Virginia, where she met her future husband and love of her life, Joseph Brunette. (Rosie is quick to remind you that she outranked him!) After Rosie and Joe were married, they went on to have seven children: Mike, Barbara (Trautman ’66), Scott, Marie (McKirnan ’70), Jim, Paul, and Dea (Taylor ’79). Rosie was very happy when the family was able to move back to Nashville in 1963, where they attended St. Henry Church and then St. Ann.
Rosie surrounded by her grandchildren and their spouses on her 100th birthday.
Rosie’s beloved husband passed away in 1980, but it was not until eight years afterward that she decided to move to Mary, Queen of Angels. Here on June 4, 2021 was the scene of the grand 100th outdoor birthday party thrown by her family, an especially festive celebration after the restrictions on visiting during the pandemic. Yard signs, balloons, cake, and flowers were all part of the day. Even during the difficult days of Covid restrictions, Rosie was able to remain positive and active, encouraging games and exercises for her fellow residents just as she did during her SCA student days. Rosie is grateful for her life and says that she is where she is today thanks to a positive attitude, a large and loving family (7 children, 15 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren), staying healthy, and keeping God and faith at the center of her life.
St. Cecilia Girl. Nell, also nicknamed “Girlie” by her friends and family, has many fond stories of her time at St. Cecilia. Attending school when it was still at the Motherhouse, she recalls how Rosie at Mary Queen of Angels the students rode horses down to the Cumberland River. She also remembers how, on an overnight stay at the Motherhouse with one of her boarding school classmates, they both tried to sneak over to the sisters’ corridor in the middle of the night…until they got caught by Sister Noreen! When it came time for graduation, Nell recalls how her older brother bought her graduation gown for her (the one pictured in the photo on opposite page). Nell eventually became a trusted administrative assistant to professor Dr. Nicholas Hobbs at Vanderbilt University’s Kennedy Center, an educational research center affiliated with the Peabody School. When Mrs. Rose Kennedy and Eunice Shriver visited the campus as they sometimes did, Nell was invariably chosen to act as their escort. On one occasion she recalls taking a call for her supervisor from President John F. Kennedy, who in the course of the conversation offered her a job in Washington. She declined, stayed in Nashville, and went on to meet her husband, Dee Ayers. Together they had many happy years of marriage and raised children, Jill and Michael.
Today Nell continues to live in her own home thanks to the help of her children. She attends Sunday Mass at Christ the King and watches daily Mass on her iPad. She keeps her mind sharp through reading and playing solitaire. “I have a charmed life,” says Nell. “Thanks to SCA for such a great life with God at the helm!”
NELL SCHINDLER AYERS
At age 99, Nell Ayers had a brush with death after suffering a serious infection and spending eight weeks rehabilitating. “But now here I am, hale and hearty,” she announced before her 100th birthday on March 10, 2022. On March 12, she had a special birthday party at Christ the King, complete with refreshments, music, and the well wishes of many friends.
A member of the Class of 1940, Nell received the singular honor at her graduation of being named both Valedictorian and
Nell visits with Becka Hill Rosenblatt ’89 and Sister Anne Catherine, O.P.
