(1939-2018)

I am very grateful to our loving God Who has caused great things to happen in the day-to-day little things of life.

My life is full. My feline friends, human friends and a vast ocean with beautiful sunsets are just a few of my many blessings. How I treasure each day and the gifts that God has bestowed on me throughout my life. How can I ever thank God for all that he has done in my life!

So concluded the autobiography written in 2001 by Sister Judith Ann (Judy) Seefeld who at the time was living in Monterey, California, and, although retired from her teaching ministry, was living an active life as a hospice volunteer.

Judy was born on July 20, 1939, in Pontiac, Michigan, to James and Charlotte (Higgins) Seefeld. James, originally from Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, owned his own refrigeration service business. He and Charlotte, from Clawson, Michigan, met and married after high school.

Read more about Sister Judith Ann (pdf)

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

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(1926-2018) 

On March 6, 1943, having received the application of a not-quite 17-year-old Rosemary Ferguson to enter the Congregation, Mother Gerald Barry wrote a note of reply that included this sentence:

I know that you have a little idea of the good things that you can do for Him, but you have no idea of those greater things that you can work in Him and through Him and for Him with that special grace that he gives to a young girl who offers herself as a handmaid in the same manner as did Mary, His glorious Mother and ours.

While Mother Gerald of course could not know what lay in Rosemary Ferguson’s future as an Adrian Dominican, in hindsight her words seem especially prescient. Just twenty-five years later, Sister Rosemary would be called upon to lead the Congregation through tumultuous times, and did so with God’s “special grace” very much upon her.

Read more about Sister Rosemary (pdf)

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

View the news article Adrian Dominican Sister Rosemary Ferguson, OP, Former Prioress, Dies at 92

(1919-2018)

The first postulant to enter the Adrian Dominicans from Albuquerque, New Mexico, came in the person of 18-year-old Marie Concepta Garcia.

Born August 15, 1919, Marie Concepta was the daughter of Edwardo and Ramoncita Luna Apodaca. Edwardo died before Marie was born, a victim of the flu epidemic that swept around the world during that time. Ramoncita remarried when Marie was about two years old, and her new husband, Charles Garcia, adopted the little girl. In all, four children came into the Garcia family, including a brother, William, and two sisters, Marceline (Lena) and Rita. Ramoncita worked as a schoolteacher and Charles as an inspector for the Santa Fe Railroad.

Read more about Sister Marie Amada (pdf)

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

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(1921-2018)

Out of the thousands of young women who have arrived at the Motherhouse over the decades intending to become Adrian Dominican Sisters, only one is known to have done so hiding on the floor of a car: Kathleen Donnelly.

As she related the story in her autobiography, she was sixteen years old when Mother Gerald Barry visited Florida, where the Donnelly family lived, and Mother Gerald brought her back on the train with her. A man met the train at the station in Toledo, Ohio, to drive Mother Gerald to the Motherhouse, and when they got there

I was told by Mother Gerald to hide on the floor as she had not told anyone I was coming. Many sisters and postulants and novices were waiting outside for her when she arrived. After they departed I was told to get out of the car. Mother Gerald had told no one that she was bringing a new postulant with her and wanted to surprise the Sisters, especially Sr. Mary Philip (Ryan).

Kathleen Donnelly was born October 7, 1921, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her father, Charles Henry Donnelly, was a professional baseball player for several teams and became an umpire when his playing days were over. When he was hurt during a ballgame in Toledo, he was taken to the hospital where he met a young, pretty nurse named Kathleen O’Hare. The two ended up eloping, and when Charles was sent by his ball club to find a winter practice facility and chose West Palm Beach, the couple settled there.