(1926-2021)

During her four years as a student at Dominican High School in Detroit, Carolyn Mary Ann Messing, the future Sister Alma Marie, enjoyed all sorts of academic subjects, including math and Latin, but was not at all fond of science. What makes that fact especially ironic is that she went on to earn her graduate degree in science, teach the sciences, and help set up school science programs throughout her time in elementary and secondary education, and work at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Carolyn was born on May 25, 1926, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Frank and Alma (Treppa) Messing. She was the first of three children born to the couple; one brother, Frank, was born three years later, and her other brother, Don, joined the family in 1939.

The siblings had a happy childhood, often riding their bikes to see their grandparents and as a family visiting each set of grandparents regularly. In her life story, Sister Alma Marie recalled how her Grandmother Messing loved to cook and how the family would gather at the Treppa home for spirited games of Monopoly followed by midnight snacks. Her family and her maternal grandparents also traveled to many exciting places, such as New York City where, she wrote, the best part of the trip for her was seeing the Planter’s Peanut man.

Read more about Sister Alma Marie (pdf)

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

 

 

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