(1929 - 2015)

Sister Magdelaine Hill, baptized Joan Marie and known to family and friends as Mag, was born on July 20, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents, William and Magdalene (Hunter) Hill, were married in 1913 and were already the proud parents of Magdalene, William, Veronica, and James when Mag was born. In her autobiography, Sister Mag gave us this description of her family.

My maternal grandmother [Nana] lived with my parents from the earliest days of their marriage. Nana had lost three children in infancy and her husband died at the age of 40. As you see, I was raised in a household of adults: Nana, Mom, Dad, Maggie, 15, Bill, 13, and Ronnie [Veronica] 11. My brother Jimmy had died in 1928. 

The year I was born, 1929, marked the great depression, but Mom and Dad worked hard to care for their children. Mom [had] a part-time job at the neighborhood Catholic hospital. Nana [was] the built-in baby-sitter.

When I was three years old, the biggest event of my young life occurred on November 27, when my baby sister, Pat was born.

 

Read more about Sister Magdelaine Hill (pdf).

 

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(1929 - 2015)

Baptized Genevieve Baker, Sister Anne Richard was born in Chicago on December 31, 1928. Gen, as she was called by some family and friends, was the youngest of the ten children born to Bentley and Margaret (Danek) Baker. Her father worked for Ahlberg Bearing Company and her mother was a stay-at-home mom. The family lived in St. Carthage Parish and Anne attended the parish school.  

Knowing that she was planning to enter the Congregation, her parents were surprised when, after graduating from eighth grade, she requested to attend Mercy High School.  In her autobiography, Sister Anne wrote, “I discovered I had a vocation while in grade school and my father was willing to make the sacrifice [to send me to Mercy], but he wondered why not Aquinas?”

Read more about Sister Anne Richard (pdf).

(1933 - 2015)

Sister Patricia J. Walsh, born on June 15, 1933, in Chicago, was the first of four children born to John and Patricia (Sullivan) Walsh. Her father was a city fireman and her mother, before they were married, was a comptometer operator. Sister Pat said, “Today she would have worked on a computer.”   

In her autobiography, Sister Pat emphasized the family’s long relationship with St. Columbanus Parish.  She wrote:

My mother was the first baby baptized at St. Columbanus Church and I was baptized there also on July 2, 1933. I attended St. Columbanus School as my mother, aunt and uncles had. We would live in that parish until the last month before I graduated and entered the Congregation.  

 Read more about Sister Patricia J. Walsh (pdf)

 

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(1926 - 2015)

Constance Kelly, known to her family and friends as Connie, was born on April 23, 1926, in Elgin, Illinois. She was the third of five children born to Elmer and Nina (Browne) Kelly. This is how Connie remembered her early days:

These were happy days. We lived in Cleveland and because my Dad sold advertising we were never [affected] by the Depression. I recall summer evenings when, after super, we would go for a ride through Rocky River and environs. My folks loved to sing so we learned many “oldies” as we rode in our Willys Knight. The car was large enough to accommodate us as we put camp stools in the back on the floor in front of the seat. We would buy chocolate chip ice cream to be enjoyed upon our return home.

More about Sister Connie Kelly (pdf).