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January 10, 2025, Providence, Rhode Island – After nearly 40 years of ministry at Providence College and 50 years living in Rhode Island, Sister Gail Himrod, OP, received a special gift to remind her of the long-time connection as she was preparing to move to the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan. 

Sister Gail was presented with the Laudare Medal as a sign of gratitude for her years of ministry at Providence. Father Joseph Guido, OP, Prior of the U.S. Eastern Province of Dominican Friars, made the presentation at the conclusion of Vespers in the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory. The friars founded Providence College in 1917.

“I was very surprised and overwhelmed,” Sister Gail recalled. Sister Gail holds a bachelor’s degree in music and English from Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian, a master’s degree in music history and musicology from the University of Michigan, and a doctorate in music education and music history from Boston University.

While taking a semester of courses at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Sister Gail often went to the Dominican House of Studies for liturgy and to use its library. While there, she met a Dominican Friar from Providence College and told him about her newly completed master’s degree. “He told me they were trying to start a music major at Providence,” Sister Gail recalled. “He asked if I was interested, and I was because I wasn’t doing anything with my degree.” In November, the friar asked her to submit her resumé. 

Sister Gail began her ministry at Providence College in the 1974-1975 academic year. By that time, she said, Providence was offering music courses but still needed to develop the degree program – a project in which she became heavily engaged. Tasks included studying music programs at nearby colleges, writing materials, and created proposals presented to the Committee on Studies.

“There were specific history and theory courses outlined for a music major,” Sister Gail recalled. Students needed to take the courses and private lessons for their instrument to be declared a music major. 

Sister Gail also led the Music Department’s efforts to gain accreditation through the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). “The initial accreditation inquiry began with my attending the yearly national meetings in order to determine whether we were ready for this step,” she recalled. She directed the department’s self-study and drew up the required documentation. After the NASM visiting team’s report and Providence’s response, the college was accredited to offer music major, Sister Gail said. 

In her ministry at Providence College, Sister Gail taught courses including History of the Middle Ages, Music in the Classical Era, Women and Music, Music and Society, and Music Appreciation. She also chaired the Music Department at various times and served on the Faculty Senate. Her committee work included the Diamond Jubilee Committee, preparing for the celebration of Providence’s 75th anniversary, and the Centennial Committee, planning for the college’s 100th anniversary in 2017.

Sister Gail also played the organ for nearby parishes. For about five years, she served as assistant organist for the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, often substituting for Dr. Alexander Peloquin (1918-1997), the Cathedral organist and Director of Music Ministries, as well as a noted composer, director of the Peloquin Chorale, and composer-in-Residence at Boston College. Sister Gail has been gathering material for a biography she hopes to write of Dr. Peloquin.

While she served the college in a variety of ways, Sister Gail has also placed much focus on the students themselves and is pleased with the lives of many of her students after graduation. “You hope they will become proficient in whatever areas they were involved in,” she said. Her former students have not disappointed her. Many are music educators in public elementary and high schools and some became private teachers for instruments or voice, conductors, and performers.   

Sister Gail’s identity as a Dominican Sister was also key at Providence College, a Catholic and Dominican school. Her work at the college and her mission as an Adrian Dominican Sister have never been separate, she said. A major part of her ministry was her Dominican presence. “Whether it be in a classroom or walking around campus or something else,” the presence was always important, she said. “I was a Dominican – not just Gail Himrod but I was Sister Gail Himrod. I was a Dominican Sister working alongside the Dominican men and women.”

January 8, 2025, Chicago – Sister Marianne Supan, OP, received the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Award from the Immigration Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago last month in recognition of her many years of dedication to the welfare of immigrants in the Chicago area. 

The award was presented during the 12th Annual Keep Hope Alive Fundraiser, held at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. The event benefits the Immigration Ministry and the National Pastoral Migratoria, a parish-based ministry that offers “service, justice, and accompaniment actions in parish communities with large immigrant populations.” 

The St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Award recognized Sister Marianne as the “embodiment of Mother Cabrini’s missionary and pastoral spirit and tireless service to immigrants as exemplified by [her] extensive work with the Hispanic Ministry at the church of the Holy Spirit.”

Sister Marianne said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich formally presented the awards during a reception prior to the main event of the evening. Later, with the larger group of attendees, the award recipients were asked to stand to be recognized, she said. 

One of the highlights of the evening for her was the attendance of eight Adrian Dominican Sisters and two Associates: Sisters Mary Priniski, OP, Mary Soher, OP, Maribeth Howell, OP, Donna Markham, OP, Jane Zimmerman, OP, Joan Mary, OP, Jean Keeley, OP, and Judy Rimbey, OP, and Associates Carol Fowler and Kathy Almaney. 
 
In her 27 years as a Pastoral Associate at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Schaumburg, Illinois, Sister Marianne spent much of her time working with the area’s large Hispanic population. Her responsibilities included working with the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and outreach and social justice ministry, often with the immigrant population. “A lot of people have the impression that immigrants are coming to the city first, but they’re coming to the suburbs, where jobs like landscaping are more prevalent,” she said.

As part of the parish’s peace and justice ministry, Sister Marianne was involved in the organization’s advocacy for a state law that would replace the Temporary Visitor Driver’s License with the standard, four-year driver’s license given to qualified Illinois residents of legal immigration status. The Illinois legislature passed the bill in 2023. 

Sister Marianne said the Church of the Holy Spirit has also offered direct service to local immigrants. Its food pantry serves more than 200 families – including immigrants – each week. The parish also provides financial assistance to help people pay their utility bills and offers English as a Second Language classes, she said.

Church of the Holy Spirit recently merged with St. Gregory of Nyssa Parish. Sister Marianne served at the merged parish for about a year before her recent retirement from formal ministry.

Sister Marianne said the immigrants have taught her much over the years. “I’ve learned that the people are hopeful,” she said. “They have a lot of determination. Over the long haul, having been involved with some people for many years, you see them get a better life and more security for their children. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of sad stories, too.”

But Sister Marianne has also learned from the gratitude of the people she serves. “They’re grateful,” she said. “When they find someone open to helping them, they’re so grateful … Some of them are very active in the church and want to give back.”