(1935-2023)

My life has been amazingly graced by the excitement of call, the love of community and the fulfillment of mission. It has been blessed beyond anything that I could have imagined or hoped for. I could not ask for more. 

Sister Mary Kathryn Cliatt, known simply by her middle name Sister Kathryn, wrote those words while reflecting on her life’s journey, a journey that began on January 27, 1935, in Miami, Florida. 

Kathryn was the oldest child of James and Thelma (Barfield) Cliatt, with her sister Martha following five years later. Neither James, a police officer, nor Thelma was actively practicing Catholics, but they nonetheless were deeply spiritual, prayerful people, and Kathryn’s own spiritual journey was shaped by them. She wrote in her autobiography that her mother would rise early in the morning to pray before awakening the children, and her father knelt in prayer at his bedside before retiring. 

“When I was five I had my first experience of Divine presence,” she wrote. 

In my bedroom, I sensed the Presence of what, even in my child’s heart, I knew to be Divine. I also understood I could not talk about it, for I had no words to capture the essence of this. This experience was profoundly formative and initiated my lifelong search for intimacy with the Divine. 

Soon thereafter, she began attending Sunday school and church with her friends, which, over time, led her to experience a variety of denominations and, in college, to become a Catholic.

Read more about Sister Kathryn (PDF)

 

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

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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