Dominican Associates Stories

Annie Gritzmaker
Holy Rosary Chapter

Annie was raised on a farm near Tecumseh, Michigan, by what she describes as a “Catholic, not so Catholic” family. She married her husband, Delbert, in 1955.

She worked in two Lenawee County factories, first at Faraday and then at Peerless Gear in Clinton, where she worked on making lawnmower transmission. When the factory moved out of state, she was “too young to retire but too old for more factory work,” so she got a job as a nursing assistant at Maria Health Care Center where she spent the next 15 years.

While working for the Sisters, “something just jumped at me,” she says, in the form of the Holy Spirit stepping in. “My life changed and I felt like I belonged.”

Years later, the Spirit acted again when Sister Rita Brunette asked her if she would be interested in becoming an Associate. And when she did, “I was so proud,” she says. It gave her a chance to live out her Catholic faith in a new way.

Annie’s ministry now is sewing for Sisters and helping them out in numerous other ways as well as serving regularly as a sacristan at St. Catherine Chapel.

She was married to husband Delbert for over 60 years; he passed away in March of 2016. Together they had three children (Kim, Kirk and Kris), 12 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.

Trudy McSorley
Adrian Crossroads Chapter

Trudy grew up in Detroit as the oldest of nine children (seven girls and two boys) whose parents modeled for them that “the center of our life was faith.”

She was educated by Adrian Dominicans at both St. Bridget School and Rosary High. Having Adrian Dominicans as her teachers throughout her primary and secondary schooling obviously had an influence on her, because she entered the Congregation at the age of 17 and spent 21 years as a vowed member.

But even though she finally made the decision to leave vowed life, “I never really totally left the Congregation,” she says. Eventually, “I felt I had to name my relationship with the Congregation,” and so in the late ‘90s she became an Associate.

Trudy spent much of her life teaching theater and then serving as an administrator at Siena Heights University (SHU). For most of her career, she directed the child drama program begun at SHU by Sister Therese Craig, working with children and teaching SHU students, especially those interested in becoming teachers.

Now retired from Siena Heights, Trudy trained as a spiritual director through the Dominican Center for Spirituality because she knew how important spiritual direction had been in her own life. And now, “it’s such a privilege to walk with people on their journey,” she says.

She is a proud new mom to a 4-month-old Labradoodle named Clancy, who is “energetic and all dog!”