(1921-2019)

St. Rose of Lima Parish on Detroit’s east side was where Elizabeth June Hiller and her playmates – Harvey, Billy, Sonny, Harold, and Harold’s little sister, Shirley (the latter two the nephew and niece of Adrian Dominican Sister Ruth Grates) – spent many hours together doing typical childhood things: playing on Sonny’s swing set and monkey bars, eating cherries straight off of the tree in Harold and Shirley’s yard, hanging out under Elizabeth’s back porch in inclement weather.

Having four boys as friends was no impediment to Elizabeth, the future Sister Carol Louise. “I was a first-class tomboy determined to keep up with anyone in the neighborhood,” Sister Carol Louise wrote in her life story. “I had skinned and bloody knees to prove that determination.”

Elizabeth was born at home on October 11, 1921, to Ludwig and Caroline (Franz) Hiller. Ludwig was born in Vienna, Austria; his family came to America because the Emperor was conscripting young men for military service and out of the Hillers’ six boys, two were already in the army. The Hillers settled in Forestville, in the “Thumb” area of Michigan, but when Ludwig was old enough he moved to Detroit. He and Caroline married in 1916.

(1937-2019)

“This is what Yahweh asks of you, and only this: to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” This scripture passage from Micah was Sean’s favorite; she took in these words and lived them faithfully in her ministry, our community, and with her family.

As we say farewell to Sean, the opening words of the Magnificat, which I am certain Sean prayed often, are especially fitting: “My being proclaims the greatness of God; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior … for God, wonderful in power, has done great things for me.” Sean, like Mary, you were a humble woman, a faithful woman, a lover of God, children, family and our community. For these fifty-nine years among us, you proclaimed God’s greatness. We thank you for this gift of your life. Blessed indeed are you among women.

These words from Sister Carol Jean Kesterke, Great Lakes Dominican Chapter Prioress, were part of her remembrance of Sister Sean Eileen Allgeyer at Sister Sean’s wake service the evening of August 22, 2019.

Sister Sean was born Norene Marcella Allgeyer on September 28, 1937, in Detroit, to Elsie (Pendergast) and Harold Allgeyer. She was the tenth child and the fifth daughter; there were twelve children in all born into the family: Robert, Bernard, Raymond, Frances, Eileen, Gerald (who died in infancy), Therese, John, Patricia, Norene, William and Catherine.

(1930-2019)

Sister Mary Schmagner was in first grade at St. Philip Neri School in Chicago when a Dominican priest visited her class to tell the children about being a missionary in China. It so inspired the little girl that not only was she ready right then to become a missionary and go to China, but she even wrote a composition for class stating, “The Navy says, ‘Join the Navy and see the world.’ I say, ‘Join the Dominicans and save the world.’”

Her zeal only lasted until second grade, however, because at that point she discovered boys and “there was no more thought of religious life until my senior year at Aquinas,” she wrote in her life story.

Mary Elizabeth Schmagner was born in Chicago on August 15, 1930, to John and Elizabeth (Sorauf) Schmagner. John was born in Hurley, Wisconsin, of German immigrant parents, while Betty came from Ironwood, Michigan, the child of immigrants from Trieste (which today is part of Italy). The two married in Chicago and settled on the city’s South Side in St. Laurence Parish; three years later, Mary, who was to be their only child, was born.

“Ours was a happy home,” Sister Mary wrote. “Since there were no siblings to rub off the raw edges, my parents supplied a formation with love and discipline to prepare me for life’s challenges. I like to think of myself as SPOILED with love but unselfish.”

Read more about Sister Mary (pdf)

(1939-2019)

Both of Sister Patricia Brady’s parents were born in Northern Ireland, Francis Joseph Brady in County Down and Mary Margaret Quinn in County Tyrone. The two met in Toronto, Canada, having immigrated there to seek better opportunities than existed in their homeland, and married and settled down in Montreal, Canada. It wasn’t long, however, before the young couple returned to Toronto, where their oldest child, Francis Leo, was born.

A few years later, Sister Pat’s father went to Chicago to find work, and when he got a job in the stockyards there, Mary and their son joined him in the United States. Later, he went to work for the Chicago Transit Authority as a streetcar conductor, and spent the rest of his working life in various positions with the CTA.

Within a year of their arrival in the States, the couple welcomed another baby into the family, a boy they named Kevin. Sadly, however, Kevin died of diphtheria before his second birthday. Pat was born on March 12, 1939, receiving her name because of her arrival coming just before St. Patrick’s Day. Two years later, Daniel was born, and then ten years went by before another girl, Colleen, came into the family, followed by Mary four years after that.

Because the family moved often, Sister Pat attended four grade schools around Chicago, one of them twice: St. Felicitas, St. Columbanus, St. Felicitas again, Little Flower, and finally St. Kilian. This variety of schools brought her into contact with three congregations of Sisters: IHMs, Mercy Sisters, and the Adrian Dominicans who taught at St. Kilian’s. When it came time for high school, she chose the Adrian Dominican-operated Aquinas High School, which required an hour-plus ride on city buses each way, over another school that was within walking distance of home.

Read more about Sister Patricia (formerly Sister Francis Kevin) (pdf)

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

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