In Memoriam

We Remember

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(1919-2020)

In the late-night hours of September 26, 2020, just less than two hours before what would have been her 101st birthday, Sister Marie Bride Walsh went to join her parents and siblings in the presence of God.

Therese Rita Walsh was born September 27, 1919, in Chicago to John and Bridget (Lyons) Walsh. John was a Chicago native whose mother had immigrated to the U.S. from Canada, while Bridget was born in Ireland and came to the U.S. by herself at age sixteen or seventeen. “We think she lied about her age in order to get on the boat,” Sister Marie Bride said in her autobiography.

John and Bridget met when John was in Plattsburgh, New York, serving in the Army. Five children were born into the family: a boy, Joseph, and four girls: Janet, who changed her name to Jean; Mary, who also entered the Congregation and became Sister Mary Jean; Catherine, who changed her name to Kathleen and was nicknamed “Toss,” and Therese, the youngest.

Bridget died in January 1921when Therese was just over a year old, and the children ended up separated. Joseph and Janet went to live with an aunt and her husband on their farm in Rensselaer, New York, and the other three children went to another aunt in Troy, New York. A few years later when John remarried the family was reunited in Chicago, and lived in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish for a short time until John and May, his second wife, bought a home in Maywood, Illinois.

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

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Sister Anne Cenci, OP (Rose Imelda Cenci)

(1934-2020)

As I thought about the Gospel of the Good Shepherd in relation to Anne’s life, it just made such good sense. … The shepherd was there, no matter what happened. The shepherd spoke to the sheep, sang to them, was present for their every need. The sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice, and would come when called. Each night, the shepherd counted the flock, just in case there was one who had strayed. Each one of the sheep was family.

… Sister Anne taught music and was a choir director for many years. In fact, her last choir came to visit us couple of years ago and sang for her and for all of us. Anne loved being among them. They recognized her voice as she spoke to them, as she sang to them and with them. It’s not unusual, then, that she had a devotion of Jesus as the “good shepherd.”

These words spoken by Sister Maria Goretti Browne opened her homily for Sister Anne Cenci and described Sister Anne’s relationship not only with her former students and parishioners but with her fellow Adrian Dominican Sisters as well. As Sister Maria Goretti’s homily continued,

A few birthdays ago, her sister, Marian, wanted Anne to have a lovely dinner at Red Lobster. Marian knew that this was a favorite of Anne. But Anne wanted to share, so she ordered, not a meal, but appetizers. There were enough so that each Sister in her 3rd floor dining room was able to share in the treat… But that was Anne, the thoughtful, caring, good shepherd!

Read more about Sister Anne (pdf)

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

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Tagged With: Anne Cenci, Rose Imelda Cenci / 2523 Views

Sister Sally Ann Fergus, OP (William Rose)

(1937-2020)

A childhood spent on Chicago’s North Side, with a large and loving family and under the tutelage of the Adrian Dominican Sisters at Queen of Angels School, gave Sister Sally Ann Fergus the perfect early grounding in life.

Sarah Ann, as she was baptized although she was always known as Sally, was born on September 21, 1937, to Rosaleen (Stratton) and William Fergus, a Chicago tavern owner. She was the fifth of seven children, with three brothers (William, Patrick and Thomas) and three sisters (Rosemary, Eileen, and Maureen). “We often speak of our family as the first five and the second two,” she wrote in her autobiography, because there was a five-year gap between her arrival and that of Maureen, and then another two years before Patrick came into the family.

“It made a big difference in our lives,” she wrote, because the two younger children “got to do so much more than we did – like travel to Ireland with my parents.”

Sally Ann and her siblings enjoyed a wonderful childhood with plenty of playmates in the neighborhood and activities including roller-skating around the block and trips to the library, the beach, the local park and, as they got older, Riverview Park to enjoy the rides. During the World War II years, her mother not only tended a garden plot in the backyard but also had a Victory Garden in “the prairie” (the Chicago term for an empty lot).