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SR JOSEPH MCVILLY

A woman of strong faith and a Presentation Sister for 68 years, Sr Mary Joseph McVilly devoted her entire life to living out the mission of the Catholic Church.

Sr Joseph was born in Hobart during the Depression years, into a staunchly Catholic family. She commenced her education at St Mary’s College at the age of five and a half. Sr Joseph loved the Sisters and the College and began to feel the early flickering of a religious vocation when she was still in primary school. In Year 10, Sr Joseph was dux of her class and in her matriculation year in 1949, she was a prefect. In early 1950 she entered the Presentation Novitiate in Launceston.

Sr Joseph professed her final vows at the end of 1953 and on the very next day, she was en route to New Norfolk for her next teaching appointment at St Brigid’s School, where she worked for two years before moving to St Cuthbert’s School in Lindisfarne. Over the next 40 years, Sr Joseph quietly served God and her congregation as a teacher in many Presentation schools, including St Mary’s College. During the 1960s, she commenced her university studies to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree. The last two decades of Sr Joseph’s teaching life were spent at St Mary’s, first as a class teacher and, from 1991, as the special education teacher.

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SR JULIANNE TAPPING

Sr Julianne Mary Tapping was born on 19 April 1946 to her loving parents, Phyllis and Pierre Tapping. She grew up in Sandy Bay, beginning her schooling at Mount Carmel College. She changed schools when she began Year 4 and completed the remainder of her education at St Mary’s College. At the end of 1963 she matriculated and after discerning a vocation to religious life, entered the Presentation Sisters’ Novitiate at Elsternwick in Melbourne in March 1964.

During the nearly three years of Novitiate formation, Sr Julianne had only limited contact with her parents, before returning to Hobart in January 1967 to be professed as a Presentation Sister. She took the name Emmanuel and began her teacher training, which she continued at Sacred Heart College in Launceston in 1968-69.

In 1969 Sr Julianne was diagnosed with systemic lupus. She was flown to Hobart to be met by the Superior at the time and her parents, who had been given every expectation that she would die. Sr Julianne went on to live another 51 years, marked by the lupus and other health conditions. St Mary’s College welcomed Sr Julianne back in 1970 as a Year 7 teacher. In 1977 she commenced a Theology degree at the Catholic College of Divinity in Melbourne and in 1979, became the first Tasmanian From 1999 she was given the responsibility of looking after refugee students and became involved with a Catholic Refugee Support Group, through St Joseph’s Parish. She also helped with the Sacramental Program at St Joseph’s over many years. Sr Joseph moved to Immaculate Heart of Mary school in 2005, continuing her teaching in special education, as well as her loving care of the humanitarian students. In 2019 she moved into Rosary Gardens aged care facility in New Town. She died on 26 April 2021, the day on which the Presentation Sisters honour their foundress, Nano Nagle. Her funeral Mass was celebrated by Fr Peter Addicoat CP, who said during the homily: ‘Sr Joseph lived a full life committed to the service of the God who created her and called her into ministry within the Presentation Congregation. She brought the power of God’s redeeming love into the hearts of people of differing creeds, countries, cultures and across the generations.’

woman to obtain the Bachelor of Theology. Sr Julianne returned to St Mary’s in 1980-81 to teach Higher School Certificate Religion, while also taking on the role of Religious Education Coordinator. She later served on the de la Salle Youth Retreat Team and as a Student Retreat Coordinator at St Patrick’s College, Launceston. After completing a Spiritual Direction program in 1996, Sr Julianne spent the next few years in prayer ministry before working from the Bellerive convent in ministry, spiritual direction and prayer guidance. Her last appointment as Parish Sister on Flinders Island was a culmination of her years of teaching, theology, spirituality and prayer. She retired from active ministry in 2006. Julianne has left behind her a legacy of love and service, tested at times by debilitating health issues. In her final years, she resided in a sunny room at Guilford Young Aged Care Facility where she remained until she died on 16 August 2020.