In Memoriam


Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, OP(1935-2023)

Eugene McAuliffe was visiting his brother in a Spokane, Washington, hospital when he encountered the lady who would soon become his wife, Sally Milnor, the daughter of a ship’s captain who often took his children along on his seafaring adventures. The couple settled in Spokane after their marriage, and on January 12, 1935, their first child, Virginia Kathryn, the future Sister Rosaire, entered the world.

Just a few months later, with the Great Depression at its height, the Works Progress Administration was established, and Gene became part of the crew that built the Grand Coulee Dam. He moved his wife and baby daughter to a town built for the workers called Coulee City, and it was there that two more children, James and Sally, came into the family.

In 1940, with work slowing on the dam, the McAuliffes moved to Snohomish, Washington, where Gene worked as a construction supervisor, and the family grew by two: Patricia and Michael. Then, as the United States entered World War II in 1942, Gene took advantage of the booming shipbuilding industry and moved the family once again, this time to Bremerton, Washington.

Virginia attended elementary school at Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Bremerton and then went to high school at Holy Angels Academy in Seattle, where the Everett Dominican Sisters (later to become the Edmonds Dominican Sisters) were her teachers. She entered the Everett congregation after graduating from Holy Angels in 1953 and was received as a novice in June 1954, with the religious name Sister Rosaire.

Read more about Sister Rosaire (PDF)

 

make a memorial gift

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

 

Leave your comments and remembrances. (If you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link). 


Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, OP(1932-2023)

Our Dominican brother, Meister Eckhart, said: “Those who follow compassion will find life for themselves, justice for their neighbors, and glory for God.” I believe that each of us was created by Love, out of Love, for Love, to be a unique manifestation of that Love for a short period of time on Mother Earth; then, be one with that Love for all Eternity. Truly, Angie loved life and found her life especially meaningful in being Christ’s compassionate Presence wherever there were people in need. 

This quote is taken from the funeral homily preached by Sister Joan Delaplane for Sister Angela Susalla, who counted among her ministries six years of service in rural western Tennessee and thirty-one years in Tunica, Mississippi, in both places serving some of this country’s most disadvantaged residents.

Mary Angela Susalla was born May 31, 1932, in Detroit to David and Bertha (Zinger) Susalla. She was the fourth of eight children, coming after David, Elda, and Ernest and before Elaine, Tom, Larry, and Karen.

Her parents both grew up in Michigan’s “Thumb” area; David was born in Paris Township, and Bertha, although she was born in Detroit, spent her early childhood in Ubly. The two first met in school, reconnected after both had moved to Detroit, and 
married in 1926.

Read more about Sister Angela (PDF).

 

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

Leave your comments and remembrances. (If you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link.)


Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, OP(1937-2023)

Marilyn Uline was the oldest of seven children born to Charles and Harriet (Holmes) Uline on July 29, 1937. She was born in Lakewood, Ohio, near Cleveland, with Rosemary and Joanne following soon thereafter. Then, with World War II in full swing, Charles was asked by his boss to move to Illinois to assist with supervising a steel production plant, and so the Ulines settled on a 35-acre farm not far from Chicago Heights. The five-bedroom farmhouse was ideal for the growing family, which, over time added Carol, Lois, John, and Margaret to its ranks.

Being the oldest of so many children came with its share of responsibilities. After Sister Marilyn’s death, her sister Joanne shared this at the wake:

Our father appointed Marilyn our designated protector and sometimes “ENFORCER!” Marilyn was three by the time Rosemary came along, and sadly for Marilyn, Rose was the first in a succession of four more babies, all 11-13 months apart. Marilyn had to become our mom’s helper (and Pampers hadn’t been invented yet). A few more years went by, and finally the last two babies arrived, and by this time, Marilyn was a pro – still, no Pampers! I’m sure Marilyn hated holding the lantern every night out in the freezing cold so the rest of us could troop off to the outhouse before going to bed. Fortunately, plumbing was installed in our old farmhouse not too long after we moved in.

Marilyn and her siblings attended St. Agnes School, where they were taught by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Determined to excel at her studies, she did 
so well that she won a four-year scholarship to Mount St. Mary Academy, where she met the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Read more about Sister Marilyn (PDF)

 

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

Leave your comments and remembrances (if you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link).


Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, OP(1935-2023)

My life has been amazingly graced by the excitement of call, the love of community and the fulfillment of mission. It has been blessed beyond anything that I could have imagined or hoped for. I could not ask for more. 

Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, known simply by her middle name Sister Kathryn, wrote those words while reflecting on her life’s journey, a journey that began on January 27, 1935, in Miami, Florida. 

Kathryn was the oldest child of James and Thelma (Barfield) Cliatt, with her sister Martha following five years later. Neither James, a police officer, nor Thelma was actively practicing Catholics, but they nonetheless were deeply spiritual, prayerful people, and Kathryn’s own spiritual journey was shaped by them. She wrote in her autobiography that her mother would rise early in the morning to pray before awakening the children, and her father knelt in prayer at his bedside before retiring. 

“When I was five I had my first experience of Divine presence,” she wrote. 

In my bedroom, I sensed the Presence of what, even in my child’s heart, I knew to be Divine. I also understood I could not talk about it, for I had no words to capture the essence of this. This experience was profoundly formative and initiated my lifelong search for intimacy with the Divine. 

Soon thereafter, she began attending Sunday school and church with her friends, which, over time, led her to experience a variety of denominations and, in college, to become a Catholic.

Read more about Sister Kathryn (PDF)

 

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

Leave your comments and remembrances (if you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link).


Cemetery of the Adrian Dominican Sisters

Our Adrian Dominican cemetery with its circular headstones is a beautiful place of rest for women who gave their lives in service to God — and a peaceful place for contemplation and remembrance. 


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