(1930-2021)

On April 10, 1930, a young Chicago couple, Anthony and Frances (Liana) DeCanio, welcomed their first-born child, Therese Genevieve, into the world.

At the time, the little family lived on the second floor of an apartment building owned by three unmarried Irish sisters. These early days of the Depression were difficult, for Anthony – whose occupation is listed as “printer” in later Congregational records – was unemployed at the time of Therese’s birth. But the family’s landladies told him to not worry about the rent until he got a job. “My mother and father often spoke of their kindness,” Sister Therese wrote in her autobiography. “… They were a great gift in my young life as they spent much time reading to me, making pancakes for my breakfast and simply loving me.”

In the years following Therese’s birth, two more children were born, Joseph in 1933 and Loretta in 1938. Therese’s early school years were spent in public school, including Fort Dearborn School when the family moved into a home in St. Kilian Parish the summer before she entered fifth grade. 

That move proved pivotal, for she attended CCD classes at St. Kilian. It was her introduction to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, and she went on to attend St. Kilian School for sixth grade and then Aquinas Dominican High School. Her parents preferred that she attend high school closer to home, but to her the 45-minute trip to Aquinas was well worth it because she was drawn to the Sisters’ joyful and caring presence.

Read more about Sister Therese (pdf)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221.

 

 

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(1940-2021)

“God brings you back whether you’re ready to go back or not, and really it was a gift to me.”

These words from Sister Sharon Beckmann in her April 2017 “A Sister’s Story” video referred to her decision in 1977 to re-enter the Congregation after seven years away, a decision which came after human, as well as divine, intervention.

Sharon Mae Beckmann was born on March 25, 1940, in St. Joseph, Michigan, to Joseph and Marie (Schramm) Beckmann. She was the Beckmanns’ second child, after Jim, and the rest of the siblings followed considerably later: Marcia was born when Sharon was nine, Joe two years later, Therese three years after that, Michael when Sharon was eighteen, and finally Kathy, when Sharon was twenty-one and had already been in the Congregation for several years.

Therese (called Terri) told this story in a remembrance sent in for Sister Sharon’s wake service:

I remember our mom telling us that Sharon, and our brother Jim, were both born at home, and the doctor took down the information for the birth record at that time. It was many years later, when our mom worked for the county clerk and had requested copies of all of our birth certificates [that] Mom was quite surprised to find that Sharon’s birth certificate listed her name as “Cherry Mae” instead of Sharon Mae. Perhaps the doctor just heard the name wrong, and that’s how the error was made. Well, Sharon didn’t think it was funny at all, but I thought that it was hilarious! And over the years, I reminded Sharon from time to time, and shared the story with others, about her original birth name, Cherry Mae! I can just imagine Sharon shaking her head and rolling her eyes now, as we’re sharing this story again, today. Love you, sister Cherry – er, Sharon!

Read more about Sister Sharon (pdf)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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(1934-2021)

… People have blood running through their veins. I am wondering if Mary did not have an equal amount of MUSIC running through hers. She was one with her music, her students and her piano. Music brought life to Mary – life that she passed on to students and colleagues alike.

Sister Mary Ann Caulfield, Florida Mission Chapter Prioress, was referring in this quote to Sister Mary Tindel, an accomplished musician who spent her entire life as an Adrian Dominican showing others the power of music to lift spirits and to bring people and God closer together.

Mary Edith Tindel was born on April 28, 1934, in Miami, Florida, to John and Carolyn (Gach) Tindel. She was the couple’s oldest child, followed by her brother John.

Her father, who died of cancer when Mary was just nine years old, was a painter and her mother a housekeeper for a family that traveled to Fishers Island, New York, in the summers, so the Tindel children spent time in either Florida or New York depending on the time of year. Mary attended St. Mary School in Miami for her first four years of school and then went to St. Patrick School in Miami Beach for the rest of her primary and secondary education.

Read more about Sister Mary (pdf, updated with photos 7/7/21)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

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(1933-2021)

When Precious Blood Parish on Detroit’s northwest side was still new, among its earliest members were the Burke family: Peter and Marjorie (Reske) and, over time, four children: Don, Larry, Noreen, and Carole.

Peter and Marjorie could not have grown up in more different circumstances from each other. Peter was born into a family of six boys, raised by their mother alone after his father died early of heart disease. Bridget, Peter’s mother, “ran a lively and mischievous household. Apparently, no prank was too much trouble as long as she kept everyone laughing and enjoying life.”

Marjorie, on the other hand, was orphaned at age five and originally sent with her sister to an orphanage while her younger brothers were raised by her four aunts. Eventually, “the Aunts,” as they became collective known in family lore, brought the girls home too and raised all the children in a loving but “Puritanical” home. “Imagine poor Marjorie’s terror when Peter was courting her, and brought her into the boisterous Burke clan!” Sister Noreen wrote.

Read more about Sister Noreen (pdf, updated with photos 7-7-21) 

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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