June 9, 2015

Sisters of St. Joseph celebrate special anniversaries

 

REGIONAL

(Iobserve photos/courtesy of Sisters of St. Joseph)

Staff report 

HOLYOKE – Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield who entered religious life 60, 65, 70 or 75 years ago celebrated their special anniversaries on June 7. 

The sisters marked the occasion with a Mass and reception at Mont Marie in Holyoke, the congregation’s former motherhouse. 

Msgr. Christopher Connelly, vicar general of the Springfield Diocese, who celebrated the Mass, talked of “joyfully honoring the Sisters of St. Joseph who celebrate significant anniversaries. We acknowledge with esteem and gratitude the witness of all vowed women religious whose fidelity and goodness continue to enrich the church.”

Those celebrating 60 years (pictured below left) were Sisters Shirley Davis, Kathryn Flanagan, Diane Gaudet, Shirleyanne Green, Doris Harland, Mary Harvey, Kathleen Kirley, Judith Levins and M. Gill Reilley. Celebrating 65 years (pictured above) were Sisters Claire Belforti, Eleanor Dooley, Mary Randall, Mary T. Shea, Christine Swords and Mary Magdalen Ward. Celebrating 70 years was Sister Rita Pelletier (not pictured) and celebrating 75 years were Sisters Joseph Anna Hine and Cecilia James Mahoney (pictured below left) and Norma MacDonald.

60 Years

Born in Rutland, Vt., Sister Levins (formerly Sister Mary Patrick), entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland from Christ the King Parish there. She earned a bachelor of science degree from the College of St. Joseph, Rutland in 1962 and a master of arts in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1972. She taught at St. Peter School and Mount St. Joseph Academy in Rutland, and both taught and worked in campus ministry at The College of St. Joseph the Provider, Rutland.

Sister Levins worked in religious education at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Bennington, Vt., and later as pastoral associate at St. Peter Parish, Rutland. She has also served her congregation as novice director and vice president, and was president of the congregation 1988-1994. She is retired and living at the Marian Center Health Care Center in Holyoke, Mass.

Sister Davis (formerly Sister James Bernard) was born in Brattleboro, Vt., and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland from St. Michael Parish there. She taught at Christ the King School, Rutland and Mount St. Joseph Academy, Rutland, where she later served as principal and then president. She was assistant superintendent of schools for the Burlington Diocese 1998-2009.

Sister Davis has also served her congregation as a member of the Formation Team and as vice president. She resides in Rutland and works in the Foster Grandparent Program of the National Senior Service Corps of Vermont.

A native of Gardner, Mass., Sister Flanagan (formerly Sister John Irene) entered from Sacred Heart Parish there. She taught at the former St. Mary Morning Star, Pittsfield; Blessed Sacrament, Holyoke; St. Mary Elementary, Westfield; and St. Joseph Central High School, Pittsfield. She was principal of the former Our Lady of Hope School, Springfield, and she taught and worked as a reading specialist at St. Mary School, Lee.

Sister Flanagan is founder and a former director of St. Joseph’s Kitchen, Pittsfield. She is living in Pittsfield where she serves as pastoral minister at Sacred Heart Parish.

Born in Chicopee, Sister Gaudet (formerly Sister Loretta John) entered from the former Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish there. She taught in a number of schools in the Springfield Diocese, including the former St. Mary’s, Pittsfield; Blessed Sacrament, Holyoke; the former Holy Trinity, Greenfield; the former Annunciation, Florence; and the former Holy Name School and Cathedral High School, both in Springfield.

In the Worcester Diocese, Sister Gaudet was principal of Worcester Central Catholic Elementary School from 1973-1978 and associate superintendent for the Worcester Diocesan Schools from 1978-1989. She also worked as a mental health clinician at Harrington Hospital and a guidance counselor at Trinity Academy, both in Southbridge. Most recently she worked at SCM Elderbus, Inc., Charlton and Tri-Valley Elder Services, Dudley. She resides in Holyoke.

Sister Greene (formerly Sister Richard Louise) was born in Springfield and entered from Immaculate Conception Parish, New Lebanon, N.Y.  She taught at a number of schools in the Springfield Diocese, including the former Holy Name, Springfield; St. Thomas the Apostle, West Springfield; the former St. Michael’s, Northampton; the former St. Joseph’s, North Adams; and St. Joseph’s, Pittsfield. She was director of religious education at St. Joseph Parish, North Brookfield, Mass., St. George Parish, Worcester, and St. Teresa Parish, Pittsfield, as well as parish minister at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Worcester.

She has been a receptionist at Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires, Pittsfield, and worked in the Senior Community Service Employment Program of Elder Services of the Berkshires, Pittsfield. She lives in Pittsfield and works as assistant ombudsman program manager for Elder Services of the Berkshires, Pittsfield.

Born in Holyoke, Mass., Sister Harland entered the Sisters of St. Joseph from St. Patrick Parish, Chicopee. She taught in the Springfield Diocese at the former St. Mary’s and St. Charles schools, Pittsfield; St. Agnes, Dalton; Blessed Sacrament and the former Mary Immaculate schools, Holyoke. She worked at Open Window Book and Gift Shop in Chicopee, from 1977-1982, as secretary and bookkeeper at St. Michael Cemetery Services and in the diocesan Office of Religious Education, both for the Diocese of Springfield.

Sister Harland also worked in the congregation’s Insurance Office at Mont Marie, Holyoke, and as administrative assistant in the Mission Office of the Sisters of Providence, Holyoke. She is retired and lives in Chicopee.

Sister Harvey (formerly Sister Maureen Joseph) was born in Duxbury, Vt., and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland from St. Andrew Parish, Waterbury, Vt. She taught at St. Peter School and Mount St. Joseph Academy, Rutland, and at the Community College of Vermont Rutland Site. From 1988–2003, she served on the Board of Trustees of the College of St. Joseph.

She was a journalist for the Vermont Catholic Tribune, Burlington and a contributing reporter to Mission, a publication of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield.

She was a member of the Leadership Team of Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland 1994–2001. She is retired and lives in Rutland and is part-time group leader of spiritual, literary, and artistic topics at St. Joseph/Kervick Residence in Rutland.

A native of Holyoke, Sister Kirley (formerly Sister Catherine Thomas) entered from St. Jerome Parish. She taught at both St. Joseph Elementary and High schools, North Adams, before becoming an assistant professor in the education department at Elms College, Chicopee. She was director of continuing education at the Elms from 1977-1990 and dean of continuing education and graduate studies there from 1990-1998. Later, she continued to serve on the faculty and worked as assistant for planning. Before she retired, she served as archivist for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield. She resides in Chicopee.

Born in Providence, R.I., Sister Reilley (formerly Sister James Daniel) entered from Blessed Sacrament Parish there. She taught at a number of schools in the Springfield Diocese, including the former Annunciation School, Florence; and Blessed Sacrament, Holyoke. She also taught at St. Mary Grammar School in Westfield before serving there as secretary 1988-2010. She is retired and living in Holyoke.

65 Years

Sister Belforti (formerly Sister Grace Edward) was born in Milford, Mass., and entered from Sacred Heart Parish in Hopedale, Mass. She has spent most of her time in education ministry in the Worcester, Mass., Diocese at St. Peter’s and St. Ann’s in Worcester, St. Mary’s Southbridge, and St. Mary’s and Milford Catholic Elementary schools in Milford. She also taught briefly in the Springfield Diocese at St. Thomas the Apostle and Cathedral High schools. She served at the LaSallette Conference Center in Enfield, N.H. and as an administrator at Mont Marie. She began her work as a parish minister at Sacred Heart Parish, Milford in 1985. She retired in 2008, but continues to volunteer her services to the parish as the need arises.

After graduating from the College of Our Lady of the Elms, Sister Dooley (formerly Sister Maria Assumpta), a native of Somerville, Mass., entered from Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Belmont, Mass. She taught for 11 years at St. Mary Central Catholic High School in Milford. After completing her doctoral studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, she returned to the U.S. where she taught Latin, French, and religious studies at Elms College for more than 36 years.

For many summers, Sister Dooley taught theological French at Harvard Divinity School and the graduate seminar in spirituality at the Jesuit University of San Francisco. She spent three years in spiritual ministry in India and was a visiting professor of world religions at Fudan University in Shanghai. She was a member of her community’s leadership team for eight years. She lives in Holyoke and continues teaching spiritualty and deacon formation for the Springfield Diocese.

Sister Randall (formerly Sister Robert Marie) was born in Newport, R.I., and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph from St. Augustine Parish there. She spent 10 years teaching at the former Immaculate Conception School in Easthampton and later taught in the Diocese of Providence, R.I., most notably at St. Lucy School in Middletown. She worked as a pastoral minister at St. Thomas Parish in Providence from 1976-2013. She is retired and lives in Milton.

A native of Holyoke, and a graduate of the former St. Jerome Elementary and High schools, Sister Shea (formerly Sister Kathleen John) entered from St. Jerome Parish in July 1950. She taught for 25 years in the Springfield Diocese at the former Annunciation School in Florence, the former Immaculate Conception School in Easthampton, the former St. Michael High School in Northampton and Holyoke Catholic High School.

For the next 20 years, Sister Shea directed the Office of Career Services at the College of Our Lady of the Elms. In 1998 she began her career at Holyoke Community College, first in the Tech Prep Program with the college and high schools in the area. In 2003 she became the website coordinator and she continues at Holyoke Community College in the information technology department. She also volunteers regularly at Homework House and is the computer tutor with the residents at Providence Place. For more than 30 years, she has resided in the Flats of Holyoke. 

Born in Springfield, Sister Swords (formerly Sister Marie Christine) entered from the former Holy Family Parish there. She spent many years teaching Spanish at Cathedral High School in Springfield. In addition, she served as directress of novices for a time and also served on the community’s executive board. After her retirement from Cathedral in 1994, she worked in the development office at Mont Marie. She resides in Framingham, Mass.

Sister Ward was born in Ireland. She immigrated to Pittsfield, where she attended St. Joseph schools and entered from that parish. She received her bachelor of arts degree from Elms College and her master’s degree from Westfield State College (now University). She furthered her education at several colleges, including Smith College in Northampton, where she was principal of the former St. Michael High School and vice principal of JFK Junior High School.

Sister Ward taught at Cathedral High School for many years and was principal at St. Agnes School, Dalton and the former Holy Trinity School, Greenfield. She founded a teacher training college in Kisii, Kenya. In Kowak, Tanzania, she was headmistress of a secondary high school for girls which she co-founded with Sister Kathryn Gallagher, a golden jubilarian. Upon her return to the United States, she worked for the Dominican Monastery of the Mother of God in West Springfield. She now resides in West Springfield.

70 years

Born in New Bedford, Mass., Sister Pelletier (formerly Sister Jeanne of the Sacred Heart) entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Fall River, Mass., from St. Joseph Parish. She taught at a number of schools in the Fall River Diocese, including St. Joseph’s, New Bedford, and St. Jean Baptiste and St. Roch’s in Fall River. After time spent serving at St. Joseph School, Vinton, La., she returned to Fall River where she taught at Blessed Sacrament School while also serving as director of St. Joseph Preparatory. She was director of religious education for the Fall River Diocese and coordinator of religious education at St. Mary’s in New Bedford, where she later served in the role of pastoral associate. She also worked in pastoral ministry at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, Mass. She is retired and living in New Bedford.

75 years

A native of Worcester, Mass., Sister Hine entered from Sacred Heart Parish there. She served in many schools in three dioceses, Springfield, Worcester and Providence. She served in the former Our Lady of Hope, Springfield and Holyoke Catholic High School. She spent the most time in the Worcester area at St. Louis School in Webster and as librarian at St. Peter-Marian High and St. Stephen’s Elementary schools in Worcester. She is retired and living at Mont Marie Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

Sister MacDonald (formerly Sister Mildred Joseph) was born in Northampton and entered from the former St. Mary of the Assumption Parish there. She worked for more than 50 years in the Springfield Diocese at schools including the former Immaculate Conception in West Springfield, Blessed Sacrament in Holyoke, and Cathedral High School in Springfield, where she worked for 14 years as part of the attendance staff. She lives Mont Marie Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

Sister Mahoney entered from St. Peter Parish in Worcester, the city of her birth. She taught for many years in both the Worcester and Springfield dioceses, including at St. Louis School in Webster and St. Joseph’s in Pittsfield. She served the congregation as directress of junior professed and later spent 10 years in the mission in Kenya, Africa. She served as librarian at the former Notre Dame Middle School in Pittsfield until her retirement. She resides in West Springfield.