In Granite City, Ill., at the height of the Depression, Martin Joseph Finneran and his wife Fannie Price Finneran welcomed their fifth and final child and named her Nancy Jane. Before the end of the hard times the family had…
“I was born in St. Louis in 1927, the youngest of Thomas and Mary Elizabeth’s three children. I spent a marvelously happy childhood in St. Luke’s Parish, Richmond Heights, Mo. [with my brother Tom and sister Mary Jane who called…
Josepha Eyre was the eighth of 10 children born to Elizabeth Margaret Purcell and Francis Anton Schretien in Nijmegan, Holland, in 1931. She described her life as “before” and “since the war.” Her early years were relatively uneventful, with school…
1 Samuel 16, Psalm 23 (22), Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9: 1-41 Having come to the conclusion of our celebration this morning, what will we take with us into this day, this one day of light and grace, given to us…
Sister Kay Carlew wrote a brief introduction of herself for Loretto Magazine at the time of her Golden Jubilee in 2011. We’ll start there but be warned: Kay left out many of the good parts, some of which I have…
Patricia Jean Saddler was understandably proud of her ancestry. Her distant kin, Basil Hayden, led the first band of Catholics from Maryland to central Kentucky in 1785. Her mother’s family, the Raleys, were original settlers of Calvary, Ky., the Rev.…
This morning we continue our Christmas celebrations with a feast focused on the family. That makes a lot of sense, because the Christmas child has been given to us in the bosom of a family, given to us as the…
This remembrance is just a little bit shorter than PJ’s long life. I could blame the length on PJ, who insisted on living life to the full. I certainly did try to make it shorter. As PJ the journalist knew…
Patricia Ann Kenoyer was born on Flag Day, and each of her 95 birthdays she celebrated as though all the flags were flying for her! Her father John Jay Kenoyer of Leon, Kan., met her mother who was from El…
Jeanne Frances Cavanaugh was born 99 years ago, in Kansas City, Mo., to Frank Edward Cavanaugh of Kansas City and Mary Frances Mullen Cavanaugh of Salina, Kan. Jeanne was the only child of her parents and entirely a child of…
The following is the autobiography which Sister Pat Hummel herself has written starting in 1989 and added to periodically until quite recently. “I was born in Louisville, Ky., June 30, 1928, to Norbert Daniel and Margaret Maloney Hummel. I was…
Mary Ann Coyle was born in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 1, 1925. Her parents were Charles L. Coyle and Loretta Teatum Coyle, both Catholic and lifetime residents of Des Moines. Mary Ann attended the local Catholic schools, staffed by…