Interchange: What do you most look forward to in coming to work?

Maria: I like being available to the community and the staff so that we can help the Motherhouse to be a healthy place to build relationships and share our individual insights and wisdom. I also like the daily opportunity to work along with everyone. This rural setting could be seen as somewhat isolated, but that is just the illusion of space, that is, farm fields instead of blocks of buildings and 24/7 traffic. Just as it takes time to get from place to place in the city, we take about the same time to drive through the fields to “get urban.”

Interchange: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Maria: Definitely it is learning more about management of the diverse activities here at the Motherhouse. For example, this year the Farm and Land Committee was a leader in the discussion of signing on for a government-sponsored conservation project. We were approved for participation in the Conservation Reserve Project (CRP) and have set aside 78 acres of land to be planted in native grasses and trees. This is a challenge that we know will be beneficial to this area in Marion County.

Interchange: The field of elder care is changing and evolving. How are these changes manifesting at the Motherhouse?

Maria: There are a lot of changes in the field of elder care and this is a topic of discussion throughout the Loretto Community. The question of urban or rural, small housing units or a more institutional setting, living apart from the community, individual preferences: all are being explored. Here at the Motherhouse we continue to try to provide care that takes into account the individual capabilities of each resident. Based on my two years in this position I see the staff here to be a key element in the warmth and the spirit of elder care manifested in our daily life. We have welcomed new residents, and they are creating opportunities that encourage people to get together.

Interchange: What do you like to do when you are not at work?

Maria: I like to walk around the farm, do some very amateur woodcarving, read, spend time with Garage Band, just talk to people or go into town. I also very much appreciate the stimulation provided by the book circles, Gospel reflection, centering prayer, the music presentations, space for quiet, prayerful reflection and the meeting with the visitors to Knobs and Cedars.

Interchange: Anything else?

Maria: I am happy to say that I feel at home here at the Motherhouse. This Jubilee year should give everyone the chance to come and experience the input of the great staff we are privileged to employ here. We are all looking forward to welcoming the Jubilee celebrants, and we are known for our hospitality!

The remembrance and photo were submitted by Benjamin Ola. Akande, Dean of the Walker School of Business at Webster University School of Business. Read his lovely reflection here.

From the left: Gina Heagney, president of Nerinx Board of Trustees; Julie Sheridan; Jane Rombach Bronson; Sr. Barbara Roche, President of Nerinx Hall; Susan Frane; and Rachel Ebeling

Sr. Barbara is celebrating her 25th year as president of Nerinx Hall. A Nerinx graduate, she joined the Sisters of Loretto. She often comments that her educational life was spent on Lockwood Avenue – between Mary Queen of Peace grade school, Nerinx Hall, and Webster College. It came full circle when she returned as president of Nerinx Hall.

In her 25 years at Nerinx, enrollment has increased from 500 to 626 students. Technology went from manual typewriters to laptops. Lacrosse, racquetball, golf, cross country plus numerous junior varsity and freshman teams have been added. The fine arts department increased the number of plays, musicals and concerts offered. Nerinx now has an orchestra and jazz band – just to name a few outcomes of her vision.

At the top of her to do list is always increasing diversity; offering more tuition assistance; creating more connections with the other Loretto schools and making sure that every young woman has access to quality education.

This year the Nerinx Board of Directors designated a scholarship fund in honor of Sr. Barbara’s 25 years of service to Nerinx Hall.

Sister Mary Luke Tobin, a 1934 Loretto Heights College alumna and Denver native, was the first subject of a new “Great Women of Spirit” art series at Regis University, To celebrate the installation of the series, the University conducted a panel discussion in May in the St. John Francis Regis Chapel about Sister Luke’s legacy. Sister Luke served as a member of the Loretto Board of Education, was one of 15 women auditors to participate in the Second Vatican Council, and the only American of three female religious members who served on the Council’s planning commissions. The art collection honoring all of the “Great Women of Spirit” is on display in Loyola Hall.

WHAT: A chance to hear about, talk about, ask about, share about Loretto, especially about co-membership.

WHO: Open to all friends and friends-of-friends who want to connect, re-connect, and share together. Sisters and co-members of course invited. Bring a friend who might be interested!

WHEN:
Saturday, March 17, 2012
starting 9:00 a.m., continental breakfast
ending by 3:00 p.m.
A light lunch will be served.

WHERE: RSVP or inquire to receive exact address.

RSVP or questions: Patsy Byrne at pbyrne@lorettocommunity.org or 314/962-8112, ext. 100

Please respond by February 29, 2012. RSVP required, to make sure we have enough coffee and handouts!

From Kentucky, the Sisters of Loretto made their way west into Missouri. In 1852, the Sisters were asked to come to Santa Fe. From Santa Fe, they branched out to Las Cruces and San Elizario and, eventually, into El Paso in 1892.

Loretto Academy, as we know it today, owes much to Mother Praxedes Carty. In 1923, she returned to the Southwest after serving as the Superior General for 26 years. Building Loretto Academy seems to have been her retirement project.

Oral history has it that she told architect Henry Trost to change the direction of the building so the two arms would reach out toward our neighbors in Mexico. According to the same oral tradition, Mother Praxedes was advised to construct one section of the building at a time.

She responded that if she did that, there would never be enough money to complete the building.

So, she built the shell, and the sisters spent the next 13 years raising money to complete the interior. For years, there were no windows and the sisters would shovel the sand out of the rooms in the morning.

Today, Loretto Academy stands proud on Government Hill. It can be seen from all points east and south in El Paso, including Juárez.

The campus is home to an active co-educational pre-school and elementary school, as well as to middle-school and high-school programs designed especially for young women. A number of steadfast Loretto community members contribute to the success of the school.

Sisters Liz Deines, co-member Irma Portillo and I are actively involved with the daily life of Loretto Academy. Sisters Frances Ratermann and Marie Patrice Hoare served on the Loretto Academy Board of Trustees for many years.

Loretto Academy has had more than 7,000 graduates. There are countless others who spent a year or two here while a parent was stationed at Fort Bliss or working in El Paso.

Loretto offers advanced placement classes in calculus, English as a second language, English literature, psychology, government, art and Spanish.

The Loretto Academy class of 2011 received $7,132,844 in scholarships, grants and loans. All 81 graduates applied to colleges and were accepted throughout the U.S. and Europe.

In 2012, El Paso’s Loretto community invites all its friends, alumnae, and supporters to join in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross.

One of the earliest local women to enter the Sisters of Loretto was Sister Adeline Gemoets, born in March 1892.

She was the gifted daughter of Ferdinand Leon Gemoets and his wife, Jeannet Schuyten. Ferdinand was in the French army in Mexico in 1863-64, serving as a personal guard to Carlotta, wife of Maximillian. He returned to Europe after the French expulsion from Mexico and served under Napoleon III.

The Gemoets had seven children when they immigrated. Adeline, their precious last living girl, was baptized on Nov. 28, 1897 at Immaculate Conception Church, which is now engulfed by the new federal courthouse in El Paso. A stained glass window of Joan of Arc facing the courthouse memorializes Jeannet.

The Gemoets family lived in and operated the Belgian Bakery at various locations, including 110 S. Oregon. The musically-talented Adeline took her first vows as a Sister of Loretto in 1910. A pianist with a master’s degree from the American Conservatory in Chicago, Sister Adeline headed music departments of schools in Santa Fe, El Paso, and was at Webster College in St. Louis from 1926 to 1960.

Sister Adeline was grateful to return to El Paso in 1960 and, in 1962, was one of the first nuns to retire in the newly-opened Nazareth Hall.

Selinda Gemoets Russell knew she had done a good job when the parishioners at St. Matthew’s Saturday folk-guitar Mass sang along with the choir. One of her most treasured possessions is Sister Adeline’s upright baby grand piano.

She is the great-great niece of Sister Adeline Gemoets, SL.

Selinda played drums in the Loretto orchestra in 1962 and then went on to win All-State vocal music awards when she graduated from Ysleta High School. A band scholarship sent her to UTEP. Selinda led the St. Matthew’s Catholic Church choir.

Ana Gemoets, Loretto class of 1998, and Christina Gemoets, class of 1995, continue the family tradition of loyalty to the Sisters of Loretto.

The full scope of the unusual relationship between Tobin and Merton has now been brought together between the covers in “Hidden in the Same Mystery.” This compilation of talks and reflections shows Merton’s deep understanding of religious life and his particular affection for this particular community of sisters.

 
Read the whole review over at NCR.

Sally Tureman passed away on December 24, 2011.

This short video was created by Gary Jenkins, a filmmaker and friend of Sally.