Ursulines serving in their 100th year in Missouri By Dan Heckel, Mount Saint Joseph Staff
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hen Sister Michele Morek entered the Kansas City, Mo., offices of National Catholic Reporter in 2017, she likely wasn’t thinking that her newest ministry was the continuation of an Ursuline legacy in the “Show-Me” state. Sister Michele is the North American Sister Liaison for the Global Sisters Report, which serves under the umbrella of NCR to report on women religious across the continents. “I am always running into people who ask what kind of sister I am, and ‘Ursuline’ almost always elicits an ‘Oh Yes!’ of recognition or connection,” Sister Michele said. “They obviously had a big impact on the area.” Ursuline Sisters of Paola, Kan., made the biggest impression in metro Kansas City for decades. When the Paola Ursulines merged with Mount Saint Joseph in 2008, they joined a long history of their Kentucky Sisters serving in Missouri, although mostly in the eastern and southern parts of the state. Sister Michele’s housemate – Sister Angela Fitzpatrick – has served as a caregiver in both Kansas and Missouri since 2010. This is the 100th year that the Ursuline Sisters have served in Missouri – beginning with a hearty band of three Sisters who in 1921 began teaching at Sacred Heart School in a tiny bootheel town called Wilhelmina. Within a decade, Ursuline Sisters began serving in two other Missouri cities – Glennonville and Affton – where they became legendary and attracted numerous young women to become Sisters. Eight current Sisters hail from Missouri, and they said without the influence of the Sisters who served in their town, they likely would not be Ursulines
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Sister Michele Morek, center, liaison to North America, gathers with two staff members of the Global Sisters Report in December 2019. At left is Pam Hackenmiller, managing editor, along with staff reporter Soli Salgado. (Harrison Ford and the Most Interesting Man in the World are only volunteers.)
today. Ursuline Associate Janet Kuper is a teacher at St. Teresa School in Glennonville and said the Sisters’ influence is still palpable 22 years after the last Sister departed. “The Ursuline Sisters have left a spirit of hospitality that is seen in every aspect of community life here at St. Teresa School and Parish,” Kuper said. “A hardworking, give-it-your-all spirit that tries to say, ‘Yes, I will help.’ A spirit grounded in The first three Ursuline Sisters to serve in community worship and prayer Missouri stand in front of the convent in Wilhelmina, Mo., in 1923. From left are with a wholehearted love for Sister Florine Wiseman, Sister Mary Charles music. Many of our musicians Gough and Sister Thomasine Mattingly. can name Sisters who helped them along the way.” pastor of Sacred Heart Church in The Ursuline Sisters imparted Wilhelmina, asked Mother Superior a love for education in the Aloysius Willett for teachers. Like community of cotton farmers, many parish schools at the time, Kuper said. Sacred Heart was a public school. “I see this Ursuline spirit Mother Aloysius agreed, but growing daily in the lives of our she died later that year. Her schoolchildren and our community. replacement, Mother Agnes Years ago, the Ursuline Sisters O’Flynn, kept her promise in planted seeds and cared for them 1921, sending Sisters Mary Charles lovingly with prayer, sacrifice and Gough, Thomasina Mattingly and many hours of hard work. The Florine Wiseman to Wilhelmina. seeds are growing now and are Mother Agnes had led the Ursuline producing good fruit.” Sisters to their first mission in New Mexico in 1919, so had no A Toehold in the Bootheel fear of this mission – despite not In 1920, Father Vincent being certain how to get there, Tesselaar, a Servite priest and as evidenced by this letter to the priest. Janet Kuper at “I have located Dunklin County St. Teresa School on the map and Wilhelmina in the in 2008 Directory; please inform me how you made the trip to Owensboro; we are not familiar with travel in your direction and Wilhelmina strikes us as being an out of the way place,” Mother Agnes said. “However, we have scaled the Continued on page 4
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