Remembrance of the Life of Sister Patricia ‘Pat’ (formerly Sister Vincent Marie) Frueh SL

Loretto Sister Patricia “Pat” (formerly Sister Vincent Marie) Frueh died peacefully Nov. 15 at Loretto Motherhouse, with Loretto Co-member Kitty Madden by her side. Pat was 92 and in the 73rd year of her religious profession.

What follows is Sister Pat’s autobiography:

“I was the fourth child of John William Frueh and Ethyl May Heine Frueh. Born on a farm north of Afton, Iowa, I had one older brother, Jack, and two older sisters, Claudine and Margaret. When I was 1 year old, my parents moved to a 40-acre farm east of Afton which had been in my mother’s family since 1873. In 1935 my younger brother Bill was born. In 1939, my youngest brother Charles was born.

“We had a happy childhood, helping with chores on the farm. We walked to the country school, Union No. 6, which was 1 ½ miles from our farm. There was only a neighbor boy and my brothers and sisters who attended the school most of the time. I was the only one in my grade. The country school closed when I finished 6^th grade. Then I ventured to ‘town school’ for my junior high and first two years of high school.

“My mother always wanted us to graduate from a Catholic high school. In 1949 I went to Des Moines to St. Joseph Academy, which was taught by the BVMs. They were not taking boarders any longer, so I stayed with the Hitchcock family on Foster Drive, and baby-sat with the children after school. It was a learning experience to go from a class of 25 to a class of 100 girls. I graduated in June 1951.

“I had thought about becoming a Sister.  Two Sisters of Loretto had taught summer school in Afton, Sister Dionysia (Leona Rock) and Sister Thomas Mary (Eugenia Thompson). They were so friendly and down-to-earth that I enjoyed their company. I kept up correspondence with Sister Dionysia after that. I felt like I would enter someday, but wanted to work for a while.  Since I had been trained in business, I took a secretarial job with Equitable Life Ins. Co. in Des Moines. I worked there until Oct. 1, 1952.

“I entered as a postulant on Oct. 25, 1952, and was received in April 1953. After first vows, we were privileged to attend the House of Studies at Webster Groves, Mo. Receiving a bachelor’s in elementary education, I was sent to St. Cronan’s School to teach first grade in 1957. I lived at Lafayette Academy that first year. The next six years, I was sent to St. Ferdinand in Florissant, Mo., as a primary teacher and coordinator. In 1964, I was missioned to St. Ann’s in Normandy, Mo.

“In 1966, I moved to Kentucky to teach the primary grades at St. Jerome in Fairdale. When the Louisville Diocese closed first grade two years later, I chose to go back to Missouri and taught at Immaculate Conception, an ungraded school in Maplewood until 1971. Then that school closed and I went back to Kentucky to be the Religion Coordinator at St. Jerome’s. I had received my master’s degree in religious education in 1970 from Webster University. Those were the happiest years of my life.

“In 1975, the Sisters of Loretto left St. Jerome. Sister Estelle was retiring, and Sister Jacqueline Duchene had a heart attack. My brother was asking for help with my elderly father (Mother had died in 1971), so I asked permission to go to Creston, lowa. I taught first grade, going home on weekends to take care of the house and fix meals. It was nice to be back in my hometown. I taught CCD on Saturdays and was part of the Diocesan Council.

“I also celebrated my 25th Jubilee in my home parish on April 25, 1978. My father had passed away in October 1977. Even though the pastor at Creston wanted me to stay on, I believed I should be with other Loretto Sisters. I was hired as Religion Director at Our Lady of the Americas School in Kansas City, Mo. One year later, I decided to return to Louisville and took the job as Director of Religious Ed. at St. Bernard’s Parish. In 1982, I took a sabbatical and went to El Rito, New Mexico, and El Paso Texas, helping out in the parishes and studying Spanish.  I made a 30-day retreat at Tucson, Ariz.

“Since there were no parish ministries open, in the fall I took a teaching job at St. Francis Cathedral School in Santa Fe, N.M. I taught an all-day kindergarten class the first year and a second grade the next year. By 1985, I realized I did not have the patience to teach little children any longer. I had wanted to be a nurse when I entered Loretto. So I asked permission to get my nursing education in order to return to the Motherhouse [to nurse in the Infirmary]. Since I knew the Heights was closing their nursing department in a year, I decided to enroll in Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colo. I resided at the Loretto Center. Those were difficult years: I was a student again at age 55; I had not had the science courses; I was taking some of the required courses at the same time I was enrolled in the clinicals. One semester I was carrying 21 hours. But I succeeded in graduating in June 1987 with an associate degree in nursing. I passed the R.N. certification in August and started to work as the Evening Supervisor at the Loretto Infirmary at the Motherhouse in September.

“My ministry in nursing has taken different forms. When I was asked to take care of the convent residents as well as be the first and third floor supervisor, the paper work and care plans overwhelmed me. I became ‘burned out’ and depressed. Sister Susan Carol urged me to take a sabbatical. I enrolled in therapy and spiritual direction at Ecclesia Center in Erie, Pa.,  from March of 1992 and until Ash Wednesday of 1993. I returned to the Infirmary part time, but the same depressed feelings were returning. I looked for nursing jobs in Louisville.

“In January 1994 I put in application as a Home Health Nurse. In the meantime, I was hired as a contract nurse at Caretenders in Elizabethtown, Ky. It was an eye-opener for me to see and experience the sick and the elderly in their home settings.  I enjoyed the traveling to different locations. Then in mid-May, my oldest brother, Jack, was dying of lung cancer. While I was with my family, I found out I was hired with the Lincoln Trail Home Health as a supervisor out of Springfield. I took the job, switching to the Marion Co. Health Office in Lebanon a year later.

“I loved my work. Sometimes I would be called out at night to see a patient. I learned to trust in the Holy Spirit to protect and guide me in finding the house. In 1998 the Medicare budget cuts eliminated clients, making fewer nurses necessary. I decided to retire at the age of 65 so that a younger woman would not lose her job.

“I had always wanted to do some mission work.  I decided to go to eastern Kentucky as a volunteer. I began with the Benedictines at Mt. Tabor in Martin, Ky., then at a clinic at Salyersville where I lived with the Ursuline Sisters. Later I lived at David, Ky., with the Franciscan Sisters, teaching a health course at the David School in the morning and visiting the elderly at the St. Vincent Mission. I became acquainted with a lot of people who were lonely, depressed or under doctors’ care.  The second year, I left the Franciscan Sisters at David and rented an apartment in Garrett Ky., continuing to visit the elderly, but also volunteering as a hospice nurse at Paintsville. I helped Amanda, a deeply religious lady who was dying of breast cancer and I shopped for an elderly gentleman’s wife once a week.

“I had promised only two years of mission work. So in September 2000, I returned to the Motherhouse.  Sister Anthony Mary had asked me to be her secretary. I enjoyed this work, as well as taking care of some of the gardening in my spare time. In 2004 when Sister Eileen Custy came, she took over the secretarial job. I became the Head Gardener with the help of volunteers in the summer.”

Pat completed this autobiography in 2007, so nearly 20 years of her steady and generous ministries at the Motherhouse are not accounted for: convent nurse, driver, canning and baking, “healing touch.” Gradually age and arthritis kept her from doing as much; but her faithfulness as liturgist and eucharistic minister continued nearly to the end.

Pat headed her life story with a line from Psalm 139, “Lord, you know me … you formed me in my mother’s womb.” She completed her story, writing, “I am blessed to have a religious vocation and have enjoyed my ministries. I thank all who were instrumental in my becoming a Sister of Loretto.”

A wake for Sister Pat took place Nov. 23, with her funeral Mass celebrated by the Rev. Terry Bradshaw Nov. 24, both at the Loretto Motherhouse church. Burial followed in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse.

Please keep Sister Pat, her family and all her loved ones in your prayers. May she rest in peace.