Oral History: Sister Suzanne McIntyre
Dublin Core
Title
Oral History: Sister Suzanne McIntyre
Subject
Sister Suzanne McIntyre
Description
An oral history of Sister Suzanne McIntyre, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 2001. The interview was conducted by Sister Brigid Marie Grandey on September 9, 10, 16, 17, 25, and 30, 1986.
Sister Suzanne McIntyre was born on August 11, 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Patrick J. McIntyre and Margaret Josephine Barry, Lillian Margaret McIntyre entered the community on February 2, 1925 as Sister M. Suzanne McIntyre.
Sister Suzanne initially ministered as a teacher in the Congregation’s schools in the Southwest United States and taught English and Spanish at Saints Peter and Paul School, Tucson, Arizona. Beginning in 1943, she taught in schools throughout Pennsylvania, including Johnstown Central High School, Johnstown; St. Luke High School, Carnegie; St. James High School, West End, Pittsburgh; and Sacred Heart High School, Pittsburgh. She taught English at Seton Hill College from 1952 to 1962.
Sister Suzanne earned her B.A. in English with minors in Spanish and Social Studies from Seton Hill College in 1930, and earned her M.L. In English with a minor in Social Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1950. She did further graduate study at several other universities. She was a member of several societies dedicated to language education, and was the National Director of one of them, La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, from 1977 to 1979.
Sister Suzanne McIntyre passed away on May 18, 2001 at the age of 94.
Sister Suzanne McIntyre was born on August 11, 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Patrick J. McIntyre and Margaret Josephine Barry, Lillian Margaret McIntyre entered the community on February 2, 1925 as Sister M. Suzanne McIntyre.
Sister Suzanne initially ministered as a teacher in the Congregation’s schools in the Southwest United States and taught English and Spanish at Saints Peter and Paul School, Tucson, Arizona. Beginning in 1943, she taught in schools throughout Pennsylvania, including Johnstown Central High School, Johnstown; St. Luke High School, Carnegie; St. James High School, West End, Pittsburgh; and Sacred Heart High School, Pittsburgh. She taught English at Seton Hill College from 1952 to 1962.
Sister Suzanne earned her B.A. in English with minors in Spanish and Social Studies from Seton Hill College in 1930, and earned her M.L. In English with a minor in Social Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1950. She did further graduate study at several other universities. She was a member of several societies dedicated to language education, and was the National Director of one of them, La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, from 1977 to 1979.
Sister Suzanne McIntyre passed away on May 18, 2001 at the age of 94.
Creator
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Publisher
Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Date
1986/09/09
1986/09/10
1986/09/16
1986/09/25
1986/09/30
Rights
All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Format
Audio cassette tape
Type
Oral history
Identifier
OH-35
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Sister Brigid Marie Grandey
Interviewee
Sister M. Suzanne McIntyre
Transcription
OH-20
SBMG: This is an interview being conducted for the archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. It is being conducted in the parlor at Sacred Heart Convent on September 9, 1986. The interviewer is Sister Brigid Marie Grantley, and the interviewee is Sister Suzanne McIntyre. v Now Sister Suzanne, I ' ve known you for quite a while, and I've heard you tell a lot of interesting stories so I'm hopeful that we will capture some of your enthusiasm for life on this tape. I would like you to feel free to say whatever you would like to say . The most interesting place to start would be with your birth, early years in grade school, your years at Sacred Heart High School, and your entrance into the Community.
SSMc: You told me you were going to do this, I read several books during the Summer about Irish history, particularly about the famines because I wanted to know about the dates. I discovered that my father and his family had been born around those important dates 1845-
1852. My mother on the other hand was younger, and so I think her family was not as disturbed with the famines. My father Patrick Francis McIntyre was born in Ulster in 1856. 1856 was one of the big dates. 1850 was the end of one of the worst famines. One thing that interested me was that since my family never spoke about any great poverty, it was because in Ulster there were some mines, etc., which provided work for the Irish. My father was the oldest of seven
children as I am the seventh child in my family. So when my father was very young, his parents took him to Liverpool. In Liverpool no Irish were ever allowed to die. If they died in Ireland, it was alright, because it would be thought that it was because the Irish were careless. So my father received a very good education in Liverpool. His English was lovely, no sign of a brogue, and he didn' t swallow the ends of words as many of the Liverpoolans did. He went to school until he was sixteen. His older brother and his four sisters had meantime come over one by one to America. From what I know, my father buried his father and mother in Liverpool. My father came at age sixteen to New York to meet his brother. Uncle Tommy as I knew him thought he was going to play a trick on my father. He handed my father a bag and said" Patty, these are some American apples." My father bit into one which was delicious! It was a tomato, and we always had fresh tomatoes in our house. My father would tell this story, but he never talked about Liverpool. He spoke a little about the Irish. He held as a great treasure his naturalization papers. We have them yet, Mary and I. He was naturalized in what was then called "The Ohio Settlement." which included Wheeling and Western Pennsylvania. My father was twenty three at the time as he had to wait five years before naturalization could begin. If you asked him for his date of birth, the date he would give was January 9t \ the date of his naturalization. My father would never permit any harsh words or titles which you hear addressed to the Jewish, the Irish, the Negro, etc. My father never raised his voice or used his hands, but when he put down his paper, he would say "That' s enough!" We knew it was serious, and that was it. So I grew up in a very fine environment. We weren't rich. My father worked as a puddler. His brother was a superintendent of a salt box mill in Etna, but my father and mother got married and had children so soon, that he had to go to work in the mill as a puddler, which was one of the highest paid jobs, but nonetheless a very hard one. My sister Mary grieves to this day because he had to work so hard. She didn't understand when we were growing up what a puddler did. My father
died one month before I entered...January 5, 1925. He slipped on the ice coming home from visiting with his aunt. On a Saturday, Irene and I were in Pittsburgh buying things for my entrance. My father wouldn't accept an invitation to dinner at his aunt's, because Mary had stayed home to get dinner, and he said when someone did this, you went home to eat it. My brother Jim didn't follow him. He thought his aunt's dinner would be better than Mary' s. My father tripped on a step, fell back and hit his head. I remember only one thing about those forty eight hours when my father was in the hospital. I had never seen anyone very sick. My mother died when I was very young. No one in our house had illnesses. I got whooping cough some years later when I was stationed at Sacred Heart, when I was fifty-five years old. My mother
took care of her sister' s children when they had black diphtheria and died, but she did not bring it home to us. So when I saw my father in the hospital with his head all wrapped up and unconscious talking out of his unconsciousness, I just couldn't take it. I ran down the end of the hall and stood for some time with my face against the comer. Then I was ashamed of myself for being such a fraidy cat. So that night when Mary and I were allowed to stay, I went back up and went into my father ' s room, although they didn' t want this as my father had pneumonia.
All the windows were open . In those days they did this so that others would not get it. I was so sad because he hadn't said anything sensible, hadn't said any prayers. But while I was standing there...suddenly out of the delirium came "Our Father Who Art In Heaven." That made everything fine. My father was a good man, but we felt badly that he had to die so suddenly.
However, he died with everyone around him children, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews,
etc.
SBMG: I was wondering. You said that your mother died when you were very young and I wondered who took care of the family, and how you managed.
SSMcl: My mother who had married my father at age seventeen had seven children. I was the seventh. She was considered to be a delicate child and this is an interesting story. My mother and her family lived in Swansea , Wales. She was born in Swansea , Wales, but the family came from Cork, Ireland, probably during one of the bad years in Ireland. They had a lovely home, lovely grounds, beautiful horses, and where my mother' s mother had buried five young children. Therefore, when her husband suggested that they follow the oldest son and daughter over to America, she said definitely no. She had three young daughters living , one of which was my aunt Nellie, who lived to be ninety-three, but couldn' t be baptized as a baby because she was so sick, and my mother who had rheumatic fever, so her heart was bad. She said it was time to visit her relatives in Cork. She took the two youngest, leaving my mother who was age eight with the housekeeper and her father whom she loved very well in the home in Swansea, Wales. I don't know how he did it, but my grandfather literally kidnapped my mother and brought her over to America to his sister and my grandmother' s brother who happened to be in Pittsburgh Nevertheless, he brought eight year old, Maggie, who was not very strong over across the seas. I didn' t know my grandparents. I have a notion that my grandmother was a little stiff. My mother was the third of the seven children born to her parents. My mother then was not strong. She also had a problem with her eyes. By the time she was eleven years old, she was completely losing her sight. My grandmother of course took her to the best of physicians who told her they could not do anything, but perhaps there was a new operation they might try. My grandmother asked
the doctors if they could assure her of anything and when they said "no", she said...well, we won't operate then. Getting back to my mother. She had married at the age of seventeen and had seven children. They all lived and were strong. She had the same German mid-wife for the delivery of all the children. I was little, but was healthy. Sister Teresa Vincent, not a sister at the time ran around telling everyone that Mrs. McIntyre had a baby with long black hair down to her shoulders, and she looked like an Indian. Across the street from the house where I was born lived the Mahoney sisters, on another comer lived the Reilly sisters and on the other comer lived a family whose daughters also became Sisters of Charity. We lived there for just a few years because when my mother died, my sister Irene couldn't stay there any longer. It was too hard. Now you asked me who took care ofus. When I was born, Irene was sixteen. She was the second girl. Nellie followed her mother's footsteps and married young, the first time. However, her husband died and they had no children. So she moved home too. Irene, at age sixteen was a wonderful, wonderful girl. Irene and Nellie knew everything that my mother knew. They knew how to bake, how to cook, what was this, what was that, etc. To this day, I hardly ever have a conversation with Mary who was eleven when my mother died,that she doesn't say "mom or pop". They're always coming into the conversation. When my mother died, my father was left with seven children... ranging from age twenty-one down to age three and a half. My mother, I don't ever remember, because she never had her picture taken. I never felt that I had lost a mother, because we had so many mothers taking care ofus. Our house was always filled with people. Our cousins, uncles etc. could always stay with us as we always found another place to put a bed.
SBMG: You went to St. John the Baptist Elementary School. Is that correct?
SSMcl: St. John the Baptist was way ahead of its time. As Sister Electa Boyle would tell you in her book, the buildings were the finest in the city of Pittsburgh. When the pastor had them built, he arranged for them to be connected, so that you could go from one to the other without going outside. This was of course a great advantage. I was baptized at St. John the Baptist in 1906. All but my two oldest sisters were baptized there. My father and my mother were buried there. Everybody else lived there until they were married. Then they moved away. Now, what was school like? It was delightful. I was seven when I went to school. My m other didn't believe in sending a child at age six, and neither did Irene when I came along. My first grade teacher was a Miss Purcell.· She wa·s about five years older than Irene, and she handled the first grade beautifully. Both Father McKeever at St. John's and Monsignor Kane at Sacred Heart were always ahead in having at least one secular teacher in their grade school...fine sisters teaching, but we did have this one lay teacher...Miss Purcell. Miss Purcell got me ready for my First Holy Communion, and I was well ready for it. We were invited up around the altar. People today talk about going up around the altar, but we did it in 1913. We went up to the altar. I led the way as I was the smallest. I don't know who taught me to read and write, but I did learn. I do know that my father taught my sister, Mary, how to read and write. In those days you learned how to read before you went to school. So, to keep me quiet, Miss Purcell sat me up in the front desk on some books and gave me the eighth grade geography and the adult Bible History to read. So I early in my life became interested in History and Geography and rm very grateful. I liked it all the time. I couldn't be bothered learning how to read and I didn't pay
much attention to Mathematics. I guess I learned something, but I didn't pay much attention. St. John the Baptist in those days ,the first grade, was a big upper room, which later became High School classrooms. It had one wall, which Father left not plastered. It had a curtain which could be shoved back and we could go into the other part of the room where we had our play time. You didn't have to worry about the weather at all. Sister Miriam Gaffney, who was our principal, just loved to have little plays. She had a little platform up in front of the school. She would come around and she would pick this one from this room and that one from that room.
She had the plays all ready. You went down to the principal's office and got your part. You memorized your lines and we entertained. We entertained the Civil War Veterans, the Spanish War Veterans, the Little Sisters of the Poor when they came around, etc. We were always entertaining. We had good, solid classes too. We never spoke of grades at St. John's until you hit the fifth grade on the second floor. So all the other rooms were: room 1, room 2, room 3, room 4, room 5, and room 6. So you know, you could have two third grades. No one was ever told that they didn't make it. You moved from room to room, not from grade to grade. I happened to get through all those grades myself, but one time I found myself wondering " How come I had Sister Ernestine Palmer in the third or fourth grade, and then I had Sister Mechtildes Grasberger, whom I loved, and then I had Sister Gonzaga Driscoll?" Now I think we were pushed around the second semester so that I was pushed on a grade ahead. Then in the fifth grade I had Sister Baptista McGivern She was a marvel in History, so we had lots of History.
She was very smart. When we talked a little bit when she left the room, we always admitted that we had talked. She would say "Well dear, you'll have to stay in after school and write ten, fifteen, twenty, and sometimes it was more five syllable words from our text" Have you ever tried to find twenty five syllable words from a fifth grade text book? Another punishment was having to memorize the week's Spelling words backwards. We learned our vocabulary alright. I skipped the sixth grade and always felt that I didn't know anything about Arithmetic from that time on until I got to High School. Algebra was alright, Geometry okay, Advanced Algebra was alright, but I'm just beginning to remember how to add now. I never like anyone asking me about my multiplication tables.
SBMG: I believe you have some recollections about the Sisters at St. John the Baptist and about your Music lessons there.
SSMcI: Yes, my dear sister, Irene, had sacrificed and bought a new piano so that I could practice. That's one thing my sister had not thought through. I loved to play the piano, but you had to practice to be good, and I did not like to practice. Sister Agnes Cecilia Dougherty was the Music teacher. She was very smart, very wise, and colorful, always laughing. So I had a lot of sweet little pieces. Sister Athanasius Hillgrove came along a few years later and said I really was wasting my sister's money. She suggested that my sister discontinue my Music lessons.
Meantime, though, Sister Agnes Cecilia used to gather us together and have us sit on the floor. We sat on the parlor floor about once a week on lovely carpets. The sisters were all very generous about having us do this. During these sessions, we really had Music appreciation. I learned to know all about the musicians and to appreciate some of their music even though I could never sit down and practice it enough so that I could play it. I have a taste for good Music because of these sessions. Also, I remember Sister Agnes Cecilia and Father McKeever.
When we came out of school every afternoon, we were all very happy because Father played the
drum and Sister Agnes Cecilia played the piano. So we marched out of school to wonderful Music..drum and piano, and Sister tapping her heels, and she and Father both waving good night to us. I remember my principal, Sister Miriam Gaffney, Sister Mary Cecilia Brown , Sister Ernestine Palmer, Sister Baptista McGivem , who taught us such wonderful History, Sister Redempta Regan who taught us in the eighth grade, and Sister Mechtildes Grasberger. Sister Mechtildes taught me in the fifth grade, and broke my heart. One day she was doing something, reading something, and I always loved to listen. I loved her. Someone made a noise, and she thought it was I. I think she forgot, and for just a minute, she slapped me. I wouldn't talk to her for three days. So, she finally made enough reparation by putting a very beautiful picture in front of me on the desk telling me that it was all a big mistake. I forgave her, but I was just hurt because I would never do anything to hurt Sister Mechtildes. We went to the convent chapel at St. John's too. What I remember is that my sister, Catherine, was very popular and she had boy friends who brought her many lovely things like bouquets of flowers, boxes of candy, etc.
Catherine didn't seem to care much, especially about the flowers which usually got put in our kitchen after she took one upstairs for herself. So, I thought it was awful to just have the flowers on a kitchen shelf, so I would take them to the convent and was even allowed to go upstairs to the privacy of the chapel on the second floor and put the flowers down on a bench there. Then we would say a little prayer. St. Patrick's Day was a big day at St. John's. If it fell on a Friday, we were given the day off and permission to eat meat. Getting to the celebration of St. Patrick's Day involved much preparation. Every room had to work hard to see who could bring in the most money for the St. Patrick's Day bazaar. It was lots of fun! We were always having parties. The girls had the parties mostly. You had a party in your family, and of course, your family provided lemonade and cakes. The family permitted you to have the parlor or what-ever room they could. Everyone coming to the party had to pay. They paid at the front door. None of the money went to the family having the party. Everything they paid, you could take with you the next day.
I also remember that before I left grade school, I was teaching the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to little children up on the hill. We went up and knocked on the doors. I won't mention any nationalities, but there was a very fine group of Catholics there. The men felt that there were more interesting things for them to do on a Saturday morning. The women were very glad however that a smart little girl, I mean smart because she didn't mind men or knocking on the doors insisting that the children come to CCD. I brought the children down the hill to St.
John's where I taught them for one hour and then took them over for the eleven o'clock Mass. In the meantime, for those ofus who have to have something to eat before Mass, I hadn't had anything to eat. It was long, and I'm glad the fasting regulations have changed, but nonetheless, it was a good experience. I learned to teach Christian Doctrine early.
St. John's had Euchre parties every Friday evening. These parties were most enjoyable and popular, because some benefactors like the Eichenlaub's contributed very nice things as prizes. One time, my brother won a lovely brass bedstead.
SBMG: Then when you finished at St. John the Baptist, Sister Suzanne, I believe you came right over to Sacred Heart High School. Would you like to tell us something about the location of the High School then and about the priests, some of your teachers , some of the things you learned, etc.?
SSMcI: Sacred Heart high school and grade school were both located on Center Avenue at that time. The Church was on Center Avenue. My recollection of the Church before going to Sacred Heart High School was when my uncle died. He was a very tall, well built handsome man from Limerick. All I could think as we walked up the church steps was that they will drop the casket as the many steps were also icy.
Nevertheless, I came to Sacred Heart as a high school girl in 1920; We had rooms in the grade school up on the second and third floor. We had wonderful teachers. Sister Borgia Casey was our principal. She was also principal of the grade school. She worked hard. She met us every day when we came late, and the only comment was: "Well if you got the car before, you wouldn't be late." Now you can take ten demerits. We would tell Sister Rose Vincent McNulty that we got these demerits, and she was always lovely, but after a few times, she would say: "Sit down with your old demerits." Sister Claudia Glenn hadn't come yet. I didn't have her in my freshman year. I had Sister Beatrice Gority for Latin. Sister Beatrice's classes were wonderful! She made you love the Latin language. I don't know that I was tortured about grammar, but suppose I learned it well enough. We did learn to love the Latin language and also the history behind what we were studying in Latin. I had Sister Beatrice for Latin for four years. She also taught us Music. She had a beautiful voice, so we also learned to sing some songs in Latin. I signed up for Commercial-Academic. I thought I would earn some money, but haven't earned ten cents. When you signed up for Commercial, you took Book-Keeping in your Freshman and Sophomore year. It was very good. I liked it, but missed out on Ancient History. I couldn't take Ancient History. So when it was time to take Spanish the next year, I took Spanish from Sister Evelyn Fisher. I took it for two years. At Sacred Heart, you could have Latin four years, two years of Spanish or German, and then in your senior year, if you had a period, you could take a year of your next language, which I intended to do. I didn't take German to start with because I felt it would be too difficult, but after two years of Spanish and three years of Latin, I thought I would try a little German. In the meantime, Father Coakley had come. He was well versed in French. He had been in the first world war, so dear Sister Gregory's German had to go by the board. I got my first lesson in Forensics from Father Coakley. He came to our class practically every day. We were his first graduating class, so he gave us a lot of his time. During the Summer of my Junior year he had a new high school built... you know Sears Roebuck stuff out now where the new church was supposed to be where the Sears Roebuck is now..out on Sheraden Avenue and Highland. Oh, that was wonderful! You could go into your own room by your own door, and go out without going into the hall. As Seniors, we had ten minute privileges. We got out ten minutes before the others did. We had all the room in the world, but we were allowed to go off the premises to the Ritten House for lunch. The only time I enjoyed lunch during the four years was when I went to the Ritten House for a sandwich. So during my senior year I spent money going to the Ritten House for lunch. Father Coakley had said that we could have French. He was going to bring a young girl from Carnegie-Mellon to teach the French class. I felt that this was terrible because we were blaming a language for what had happened in World War I. I expressed myself very vociferously. I didn't get too far with Father Coakley who said the young woman was coming regardless of the objection. Sister Gregory Farrell said again that if we could get ten girls for German, I'll give you a course in German.
We couldn't get ten girls. Some girls wanted to take French from the young woman from
Carnegie-Mellon because they felt that German was too hard. I would not take French, and couldn't get German. Well, Mother Evaline Fisher settled that. She said if you can get others interested, I'll give you Third Year Spanish. So we were ahead of most schools in the city. We had three years of Spanish at Sacred Heart. Now public schools, like Langley High School in Sheraden had a magnificent four year course in Spanish, French, and German. I made up my Geometry which I had missed during my Sophomore year by taking Book-Keeping. I went to Schenley High School. . It was delightful. I had a man teacher. This was also pleasing to me.
However, I took Geometry with Charles Helbling, one of my classmates. He was one of the brightest boys in the class. After about two days I said, "Charles, how long did you spend on your Geometry last evening?" He said, "Seven hours." I said," Well then I'm quitting today.". I'm not going to spend seven hours a day in the Summer on Geometry even if it is required; .I did quit. I had a good time taking Ancient History. It was delightful. I got Geometry in the novitiate after I entered.
SBMG: We'll just stop for today and pick up this tape when we meet again.
SBMG: This is a continuation of the oral history on Sister Suzanne McIntyre by Sr. Brigid Marie Grantley at Sacred Heart Convent. The date is September 10, 1986. Now Sr..Suzanne, on the frrst tape you told us about your childhood, your experiences at St. John the Baptist and at Sacred Heart High School. So I guess my question to you now would be: Whatever made you think about becoming a Sister of Charity and how did that come to you, and what steps did you take?
SSMCI: Actually, thoughts of becoming a Sister percolated heavily in my mind during my Junior year, but when they did so, I tried very hard to dismiss them as I had no intention of being a Sister. In my eighth grade, I loved all the Sisters. One day Sister Redempta Regan standing in line passed all the lovely girls and said to me "And you're going to become a sister, aren't you dear?" I answered very emphatically: "Not on your life, get up at five thirty in the morning, never go home, never dance or sing?" Oh no, Sister. I'm going to be an actress. In spite of it all, my whole background was tied up with the sisters. A deep seeded love for religion was
ingrained in me. I was religiously inclined, yet I loved the movies. I went to a movie almost every day, and sometimes more than once a day. I loved to dance and sing, although at times the feeling came to me that I ought to do more with my life. A voice deep down seem to say that perhaps I wouldn't be saved unless I became a Sister. I liked boys. I had a special boy friend from grade school through high school. In walking home together from a date one evening, he was the frrst one I told about possibly becoming a Sister. He said, "That's great!" Maybe I should become a priest. He did go to St. Vincent's for a short time, but left and became a very successful lawyer. He was a good father to a large family. I'm sure that family wouldn't object to my giving his name.John D. McGrady. However, somewhere in my senior year, the Bishop ordered that every school had to have prayers every day for vocations. I recall that Mother Claudia Glenn put the name and address of every religious order on the blackboard. She told us things about everyone, but never wrote Sisters of Charity. I suppose she felt that since we had Sisters of Charity and observed them, there wasn't any point in listing it on the board. She wrote the names of all the monasteries and the kind of priests who were there. We did have one priest vocation from our class...Father John McKenna who was from Hazelwood. He became a wonderful diocesan priest. He died before we had our twenty-fifth class reunion. Well, getting
back to me. We prayed a very beautiful prayer every day and we thought about it . My sister Nellie, who lived in Aliquippa at the time had no children. She coaxed me to come down and spend some time with her. Nellie just loved children. So I went and spent a week with Nellie. Every morning I went to Mass with her. After Mass, she would leave to make a fine breakfast for me....anything to keep me there. I stayed in the church every morning. I was fighting a vocation. Finally, I came home, went out to see Mother Claudia, and said to her: "I keep thinking I should be a Sister of Charity." She said, "Well, I've been waiting for you to tell me." Never once in four years had she or anyone else said anything to me. Then she was all for getting me ready for September eighth. When I went home and told my Sister, Irene, who never lets you down she smiled happily. Her good work of giving up half of her life was turning out decently. Mary, my other sister on the other hand said"You become a sister? What are you going to do with your right foot when you feel like stamping it?" My sister Irene said there is no way I can have you ready for September. You'll need too many things. So, I have a suggestion. You have a scholarship for Seton Hill. We weren't going to send you there as it would cost something beyond our means. I'll make a compact with you. You go to Seton Hill for a semester. We'll be able to afford taking care of things. That way you can see what it's like to get up at six o'clock or whenever . Be with the sisters and see if you would like it. Then if you don't wish to be a Sister, you can come home after the first semester and go to Robert Morris College, which we can afford. So I went to Seton Hill as a freshman in 1924 with a class of twenty-eight. I was delayed for three weeks in getting to Seton Hill as I had a severe case of Gingivitis. This presented some problems regarding classes which I wanted to take. Sister Eucharia O'Hagan was Registrar and informed me that I couldn't take Latin or Spanish as classes had been in session for three weeks. Schweitzer(Sr. Maria Francesca Umauer), who taught German did not like late beginners due to the complexity of the German language. I reluctantly ended up taking French. This was the only "D" I've ever received. I went home at
Christmas time. On January fifth I went into town, met Irene, and spent the day buying things for entering the convent. In the meantime, arrangements had been made for me to enter on February second, which would be after the first semester of college work. Two days after my father's funeral we had an extra visit. Sister Florence Marie Scott and Sister Francesca Brownlee came in from Greensburg. I really didn't understand the reason for the visit...thought perhaps that they did this for every student. When my sister Irene took the sisters to the parlor, they said we think we have to say one thing. Lillian doesn't seem to be showing any signs of coming back to school. Sister Francesca said, "You know if she doesn't return to school, we can't give her credit for her first semester work." No matter where she wants to go to school, and I'm sure she will, she'll have to repeat the first semester's work. I did go back to Seton Hill. Sister Stanislaus McVay was our Dean of Women, and she was an angel. Sister Amata Brennan was our nurse. She also was an angel. Everyone was so very good to me, and Margaret Garrick , my companion in the room next to me helped me to get through those days. I don't recall that I did much studying. I did get my grades. Somewhere during the last week, Sister Florence Marie Scott said to me:"Lillian, have you altogether given up being a sister?" I suddenly said, "Oh yes, I may as well." Actually, I went home on Friday and came back to Seton Hill to enter on Sunday..
SBMG: So you entered. What was it like to be a postulant in 1924?
SSMC: My sister Irene and my aunt Lilly, my god-mother took me up to Seton Hill on the train. Most of the family stayed at home. My date of entrance was February 2, 1924. I enjoyed every minute of my novitiate. Sister Mary Dorcas Smith entered with me. She was a Sophomore. I was a Freshman. We entered on Monday, February second. We came on Sunday, but in those days you came the day before entrance. On Tuesday word came, per Mother Rose Genevieve Rogers that Dorcas Smith and Lillian McIntyre were to sign up for full schedule of college classes. My first month in the Novitiate, despite my sadness over my father's and nephew's death quickly evaporated. I was really very happy. I didn't long grieve over my father's and nephew's death. I grieved over Sister Mary Dorcas's death longer than for anything in my life. We were very busy with school work and novitiate duties, so there was no time to get homesick. Very early even in my postulancy I served in the dining room and I felt that this was kind of clever, being able to do this without dropping things down people's backs. Also, it was discovered that my voice was a very strong one, so I was asked to read. I had an interesting experience with this. We were up in the gallery. My first attempt was at prayers. In the old prayer manual, in one of the litanies there was the phrase: "From the sins of the damned, preserve us oh Lord." Actually, It was: "From the sins of Adam, preserve us oh Lord." The A in Adam was left out. On the way out of prayers, Sister Electa Boyle corrected me. She always sat up in the gallery off to the side. She told me that I wasn't very intelligent that I didn't know that the A was missing from Adam. As I was reading that, from down below in the chapel, dear Sister Ferdinand Love had a lovely voice. She kept perfect time in praying. In fact, Mother Mary Francis McCullough, when she corrected me, said that Sister Ferdinand was the only one in the chapel praying correctly, and I would do well to follow her example. That's just one of the things that I remember from early times. During our novitiate, we also had Mother Mary Francis, our Novice Mistress for classes. We had Father Sullivan teaching us religion classes. We worked up in the infirmary and were impressed with people like Sister M. Christina Riley, who was so terribly crippled.
SBMG: At the end of our last session, Sister Suzanne, you were beginning to talk about some of the sisters you met while you were still in the novitiate. You had mentioned Sister Christina.
Now you may want to tell about some of the other sisters you met in your early days.
SSMCI: I remember that I was so impressed with sisters in their last illnesses. I suppose that my father's death and my nephew's death made me feel that I could be around the dying. I was never good with the sick if they had a great pain or showed signs of fever or had a cut and were bleeding. I would have to quickly get someone else to tend to them. I'm no good with the actual sick, but when they reach the point where they are finding their way towards God, I don't have any difficulty with being able to stay with them. I'm glad of the fact that even in the novitiate and my days as a professed sister I have been with several sisters much of the time when they were having their last days on earth. One sister I especially remember was our dear and loving Sister Carita Duffy. I say this just to remind us all no matter how much we think we are doing, at the end, sometimes God does ask us for a special thing. He seemed to ask Sister Carita during those last three days to find it very hard to give up this life or to come out of whatever was disturbing her. I remember kneeling at the foot of her bed as often as I could get there and
praying. There was always an older sister at the top of the bed who would say: "Say the Apostles Creed." I recall how peaceful and calm sister would become and a nice smile would come over her face. We said this prayer many times and as a result I have become very devoted to this prayer. I also remember Sister Callista M. Hughes who was smaller than I. She was a little senile at the time , childish actually. She was just as sweet as she could be, but when left to herself she was always on the way home to her mother because she wasn't allowed to be out so late in the afternoon. She knew where the door was to let her out, and so she would slip out very quickly. Anyone ofus who saw her of course took her to the infirmarian. The power of obedience was shown to me one night. I had done the reading in the novitiate. I was by myself. Suddenly I looked and there was little Sister Callista. She had found her way up to the third floor. I didn't know what I was going to do as she probably would have become very upset ifl touched her. I did begin to talk to her, and of course got the same story that she had to go home to her mother because she couldn't be on forty-sixth street after four o'clock. When I was about to despair, Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers came around the comer. She had not yet gone
. down to dinner. It was so wonderful! She just smiled sweetly and said: Now Sister Callista, what are you doing up here? Sister Callista said: "I don't know, Mother." Well now dear, said Mother Rose Genevieve, we'll go down to your room. It's time for dinner. Not a word. Her mind was perfectly clear for that minute. She knew Mother Rose Genevieve and that she was the superior, so she went down to her room. I went to my room being very impressed that this dear, sweet sister was keeping her vow of obedience after all these years in the Community.
SBMG: Thank you very much Sister Suzanne. Now is there anything else you would like to share with us, especially from your novitiate?
SSMC: Yes, I have some very pleasant things that I recall. Back in the novitiate, we got much practice in Gregorian Chant. Our singing was fine. There was an elderly priest who came from Europe. He was well versed in Gregorian Chant. He came from Pine Gregorian School in Europe. The Gregorian was not the most important thing that I recall. He stayed for a month or two and took us for classes. He was such a delightful, elderly priest. He walked every day underneath the porch on the novitiate side of the building. Mother Mary Francis also wanted us to take a walk each day. The half hour or so before dinner seemed to be the best time, and this is when Father took his walk. He used to tell us many interesting stories. The one I remember most was about St. Teresa, the Little Flower. Father was a personal friend of the Little Flower's family. When the Little Flower was just a small girl he visited and told us that she sat on his knee. He made the story very human. He said: "Oh, she sat on my knee." She wasn't so well trained. If she didn't get what she wanted.s he complained. Her Biography tells us that her father did spoil her. Father wanted us to know that we too could become saints. I liked to walk back and forth with Father because he wasn't much taller than I. One day we asked him to tell us more about the Little Flower. He looked at me and said: " Oh she wasn't so much bigger than you. " I hadn't had too much devotion to the Little Flower. She was canonized in I believe 1925, so she wasn't any older than I was then. So I thought...What did she ever do to become a saint? I hadn't read very much yet along those lines. I went out on mission, my first to St.Philip's in Crafton. I decided one Sunday afternoon to go over to the school which was close
to the convent. The school door sometimes gave you trouble. When I had finished doing what I wanted to do in the classroom I left. I locked the door, turned the key to take it out and it would not come out. I hated to admit that I had gone to the school by myself and hadn't learned to use a key properly. So I said: "Well Little Flower, in this hour, show your power. If you get this key out for me, I'll tell everybody about you from now on." The key came out, and from that time on at least at the beginning of the year, I took time out to tell whatever class I had about the Little Flower. I also say her prayer which Mother Claudia Glenn gave me when I entered. I haven't become any great fan...I like Teresa of Avila better, but I remember that little incident from the novitiate of a priest who knew her personally and said that anyone who really tries can be a saint.
SBMG; Well, that was very interesting, Sister. Do you remember any other experiences that you had with other sisters who were novices with you?
. SSMI: Oh, I could go on for hours, but I'm going to tell you two things. Sister Dominica O'Connor, Sister Joanna Gleason and I were close :friends through the novitiate and also through our years as professed sisters. One day we were down on the first floor and we were experimenting, I guess. One of us said: "I don't know why we walk up five flights of stairs when there's an elevator here." The elevator was one which brought things up and down to the tearoom. Sister Joanna said:" We don't know how to use that." I said: "Well, there seems to be nothing to it. Anytime I've seen it, all you do is push the door open and the elevator stops and you go out." Sister Dominica, being sweet didn't disagree with me. Sr. Joanna hesitated, but we got in the elevator. Sister Joanna went in first since she was the senior, so she was closer to the back. I was close to the door since I knew all about this elevator. As we went up, we pushed the elevator and it did start. I don't know what we pushed. I've forgotten now. We went to the
first floor and the second floor, but when I tried pushing something it didn't work. We got a little :frightened, at least I did. Anyhow, I said: "Oh you're just supposed to push it." So I did and we walked out. It was the third floor and Sr. Dominica and I got out, but Sister Joanna was still in the elevator and I pushed the door which closed. The elevator kept going up and all we could think was that it was broken and when it reached the top, it would fall clear down to the ground and Sister Joanna would·be killed. I was leaning over into the elevator shaft waiting for it to come down and Sister Dominica pulled me in. She held on to me very tightly and said:"There' s no use in two of us being killed." We would have been killed if she had not pulled me in. The elevator didn't come down and then we wondered...Where is Sister Joanna? We saw nothing. We thought she was dead. We went up another flight of steps and eventually we heard her laugh....a smutted laugh. She was so overcome with laughter that she couldn't speak, and we were so frightened that we were crying, -at least I was. Then we got mad because she hadn't told us. It had stopped on the sixth floor. There was something right about what I had said. It did automatically stop if you left it alone. Sister Joanna got out of the elevator when it stopped. She was finding her way down when she heard our cries and sobs and she began to laugh about all of that. Well, that was one incident. The other is a very beautiful one. It includes one of my favorite :friends...Father Reeves. When I went to Seton Hill, Father Reeves was a young priest. That was the class of 1928 to which I belonged although I didn't stay with it.
However, I'm always included in reunions etc. Sister Joanna knew Father Reeves. She had gone through school to the Sisters of Mercy until she went to Seton Hill. In the process of determining her vocation, she talked to Father Reeves, and so he considered her to be his postulant. We were both taking a Bible class with other novices at the time. All novices sat toward the back of the Visual Education Room, which is where Father taught the class. The College students sat further up in the room. Sometimes the college girls were not too quiet during class, and I imagine occasionally that the novices weren't either. Father was usually pretty patient, but this particular day he expressed himself rather strongly to the girls and then to our chagrin he said: "And you novices had better behave yourselves or you will be out of the class. I'll report you." Well, we felt we had been disgraced. When class was over Sister Joanna and I felt that Father had really been out of place. He had no business talking to us that way. We were Sisters. He should show some respect. So we talked this over and decided we would go down and tell him about it. We walked down to his office which was in the Psychology Lab. He greeted us by saying very cheerfully .....hello! We were very severe in our response. We proceeded to tell him how out of
_ place he had been. He was shocked that we would have the nerve to question him about this. He was very hurt, especially at Blanche, which was Sister Joanna's name before she entered. He didn't know me well enough at the time as when I was in College before entering, all I ever had to say was: "Good morning, Father." Well, we left him rather chagrined. He told us to go rather angrily. As we went upstairs we began to talk about it and decided that maybe we were out of line and should go back and apologize. The next day, we ate humble pie and went back to apologize. When we knocked on the door, Father smiled and told us to come in. We began to apologize and say how sorry we were. Father said: "Oh, that's alright." We must have said: "Well Father, we hope you will forgive us. We feel that we have committed a sin, and we'd like you to forgive us." I have never forgotten what he said. Forgive you? My dears, I forgave you shortly after you left here. Otherwise, how could I say the Our Father at my Mass this morning? He said: ''Now you've been forgiven for many hours. Now go and forget about it." I've always remembered this, although I've not always practiced it. By the next day we were good friends again. After that, when I was home in the next year, Father was very much at ease with me.
Father was a marvelous teacher, but he was also a very holy man. Some people said the sisters
spoiled him. Maybe they had. He didn't have a strong physical make-up. I remember Father on Sundays going out on the missions to teach CCD. I went with Father Reeves and some of the others to teach CCD classes. He taught in some distance outside of Greensburg in an Italian setting. Father Ree¥es, if you remember him was always spic and span. He was immaculately dressed....a handsome man at all times. I remember one Sunday in particular where classes were taught in what was the only room, the Hall, which had been used by the group the previous evening. It smelled very much of good wine, but nonetheless wine from the previous night. The Hall wasn't especially clean, but I marveled that through all that Father didn't show any signs of being annoyed. He patiently waited for the women to set up for Mass, at which he gave a beautiful homily in Italian and English. He was so much at home with those people up in the coal mining region of Greensburg. Those were some of the side things about Father Reeves that everyone didn't see. I had wonderful experiences also with Sister Helen Cecilia Dwyer in going out to teach CCD. The area we went to was far away. I have forgotten the name of the area now, but we left at seven o'clock in the morning. We packed our lunch the night before. We
went via taxi cab immediately after Mass on Sunday morning. . Sister and I taught in a one room public school. It had a pot belly stove in it. The boys would put the coal in that was needed. We taught the children from when we got there, which was about nine o'clock until ten thirty. Then we would pile the children into a truck or some vehicle supplied by families to the church for Mass, which was at eleven o' clock. You understand that i.f they were going to Communion, they were still fasting. If Sister and I were going to Communion we would still be fasting also, but usually this was not the case. After Mass, we took the children back to the school house where then they were taken home. Sister Helen Cecilia and I stayed at the school house to eat our lunch. I learned to like black olives through this experience. Sister Helen Cecilia liked them, so she always packed some in our lunches. We ate our lunch around the stove. Then at one o' clock, the taxi or cars would come back packed to the gills with other CCD teachers, who like myself were going to teach other CCD classes in the afternoon. They picked Sister and me up. I was the first one dropped off then at the nearest place where I was going to teach. It was not the same place where I had taught in the morning, you understand. I have
. forgotten the name of the place. The others were dropped off along the road at other places. It was in the various homes in outdoor wash house facilities that I taught. They were lovely Italian people, very clean and hospitable. A young girl from Greensburg was dropped off with me, but she did not like to go into the homes. One day after I had started to teach, they informed me that one of the grandmothers was sick. Would I go to see her? I said: "Of course." They took me to their home. The daughters were there and treated me like bad news , but they didn't dare say anything because Papa and Mama were there. I went inside, where a darling mother, a beautiful woman with lovely black hair and a beautiful voice was in bed. You could see that she was suffering. Her husband was there. He spoke very little English and his hands were very rough. I visited Grandma for a few Sundays. Being very young, I didn't ask many questions. She didn' t seem to be able to say what her problem was. She.blamed the doctors, who she said burned her back. Then one day when her husband wasn't in the room, she showed me her back. It was a hard thing for my young eyes to look at. She was indeed dying from Cancer. Her husband whispered to me that his hands were rough due to working in the mines, so that he couldn't rub her back without hurting her, and so she was scolding him. It was sad, and so I said I would do it if it was alright with her. She was happy about that. My hands of course were soft, not having done hard labor. She did get some kind of relief and peace from my doing this. I was really glad for this, so I did this every Sunday. When I came home, Mother Mary Francis was always concerned about me as I didn' t look well. I didn't dare tell her about this because I was afraid she wouldn't permit me to do this any. more due to my young age. So I would say: "I don' t do well in automobiles, Mother, and let it go at that." In reality, I did feel sick because I would imagine that the odor of Grandma's illness was inmy habit. So, I couldn' t wait to take it off and wash it. Because of this, I always wore my old habit on Sundays while doing this. In spite of this, it was a wonderful experience because after this she was resigned to her illness. Every Sunday, even though I said no, underneath the pillow, she would put a one dollar bill in my hand for me to say a prayer. She never asked for anything else. I'd take it and put it in the poor box or have a candle lit. That was an early experience, but I had many others in my CCD work.
SBMG: Now Sister, did that experience happen while you were in the novitiate or at a later time?
SSMcl: That was when I was in the novitiate. It was during my last year in the novitiate when I was brought home after teaching for three years at St. Philip's in Crafton. I was very fortunate, because during those three years, Sister Mary Edna Trexler and I were instructed to go to Pitt. I had a full year of college in addition before entrance to the Community. The Sisters of Mercy were not permitted to go to Pitt nor other religious communities except perhaps some older members. Sister Maria Francesca Urnauer ( Swester) and Sister M. Cyril Aaron kept us straight. Sister Cyril had a wonderful experience at Pitt dealing with bigotry. She was in class with a young man who was a one book professor. Sister Cyril was a well read woman, and between herself and Sister Stanislaus McVay, they kept her well supplied in the history of the course she was taking, so that anything the young man said that could be debated , that is, anything which was wrong, she had an answer for. The professor must have had a very bad year, but sister never left the class. However, due to that, per Sister Stanislaus, I was told that I was
. not to sign up for any history classes at Pitt. Instead of that, I signed up for a wonderful course with a Mrs. Carmalt. She had been a teacher in the Public Elementary Schools. The class was made up of principals, teachers, administrators, and educators of all kinds. She took as much interest in me and Sister Mary Edna as though we had been very important administrators too, even though we were the youngest in the class. One day when I believe she felt that these principals, administrators, etc. were thinking that we were out of place, shouldn't ask questions, etc. that perhaps we shouldn't be in the class, she stopped and said something I will never forget. She said: "My dear students, I want you to remember that if no teacher ever existed, the human mind would learn. The human mind learns. You do not learn for them. They learn on their own, so don't feel so terribly important. Without you , the human child will learn. Without me, you will learn." I also took a class at that time in American Poetry. Sister Mary Edna also took the class. We had a young man who sat on top of the desk with his legs crossed, and we spouted poetry by the yards. I wasn't really impressed with his teaching. I don't think he particularly liked catholic sisters. We managed the course very nicely.
SBMG: Now Sister Suzanne, at that time it was a five year novitiate. Would you tell me what kind of habit the novices wore and then tell me what you did each of those years and that will bring you up to your last year.
SSMCI: Yes, I received a lovely brown habit on July third, 1925. The day of course couldn't have been hotter. I had two petticoats on, two pair of sleeves, the cape and apron, and two caps(one inner cap). By that time, I had twenty guests for the afternoon. I couldn't wait until they went home. I wasn't homesick, so I was very anxious for them to go home so that I could get something off. My second habit was an older brown habit. I had to make that one from someone else's good one. It was a little bigger. I could do a little sewing, so Sister Agnes Francina Kearney, God love her, put me to work sewing my own clothes. So we had brown habits.. Now while I was in the novitiate, it was decided that having the brown habits was not a good idea as the colors were changing. The bolts of material were not the same color. The Community decided that by the next December the eighth, whoever entered the next September
when they got their habit, it would be a black one. That was the famous twenty group, all of them stayed, no one left. So they were very proud of themselves. They entered and got a black habit. I still had a brown habit, but when they were going to have the black habit on December the eighth, the word came that every novice would wear a black habit that day. So, whether I needed it or not, I got a black habit. I wore the brown habit during the week, and the black habit on Sundays. I had a long and happy novitiate. I could go on for a long time telling many things, but I won't. In the fifth year of my novitiate, I had been out on mission at St. Philip's in Crafton for three years. Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers decided in June of 1929 that the next year she was going to see that anyone who was practically ready would get that degree...that they would walk up the aisle in Sullivan Hall like any girl and receive their degree from the Bishop. We were very proud, you know, and have always been, that our work at Seton Hill is one hundred percent par excelleClancynce! You make it or else. Mother thought that it would be good from that time on for the sisters to receive their degree in this manner so that it could be seen that we did in fact receive a degree just as the students did. So in September of 1929 I was kept home
. for college courses . Sister Rose Angela Cunningham, Sister Maria Serafina Mazza, Sister Hildebert Mudler, Sister Raphael Dimond, and a couple of older sisters who still had college courses to complete were also kept home. Of those who had to stay home, I had the least number of credits because I was the youngest or if I wasn't the youngest, I had not been in school. Sister Rose Angela had been at Seton Hill a little bit longer. She had been kept home longer. The first Semester of September of 1929, I did a full college course schedule. That was sixteen credits. The second semester I had seventeen credits of course work. How I ever got through, I don't know. I also taught a couple of classes in the Academy a few days a week. I taught CCD every Sunday. This was the year I taught all day long in nearby mining towns as afore mentioned. I served Mother Rose Genevieve's table three times a day, washed dishes...silverware and glasses in the college dining room after each meal, but you know I enjoyed all of it. We lived through it. I did get lots of permissions to study late at night.
Fortunately for me, there was a Franciscan from one of the mid-western states getting her degree. She was getting her degree the easy way at the insistence of her father. She was taking Spanish that year, as was I from Senora, whose idea of an easy Spanish lesson was her reading you a two page newspaper in Spanish, and then she expected you to be ready to discuss this paper in Spanish the next day. Senora and I got along rather well, but I admit it was very difficult for me to keep up with the assignments. However, I did end up with a "B" in the course, so so be it.
Apart from the heavy course work, and other duties mentioned above, I also had many happy ex periences with the sisters and with acquaintances made with the college girls. Did I walk up the aisle to receive my degree from the Bishop? Sad to say....no. At the last minute the day of Com mencement, the older sisters who were to graduate got cold feet. They said they were too old to do this with all of the young graduates, so shortly before the Graduation Ceremony was to begin, those ofus who were graduating were instructed to go to Mother Rose Genevieve's office and it was there that we received our degrees from the Bishop who would have been Bishop Hugh Boyle. I was a bit peeved about the situation as I had been obliged to be fitted for a habit which in fact did not fit me. As it turned out, I didn't have to wear that habit. We sat up in the balcony during the ceremony, so I wore one of my other habits. Since we didn't walk up the aisle to receive our diplomas, I didn't think too much of it, so I tossed it on my novitiate shelf and went
downstairs to serve dinner. During night prayers, before Graduation, Mother Rose slipped into my pew and said: "Dear, Can you be ready to go with Sister M. Celesta Deignan at seven
o' clock tomorrow morning? You can substitute for Sister Kathleen Kennedy in eighth grade at Holy Cross in Sharpsburg." Now I've had the experience since then that I could say I have taught every class from Pre-School, through High School, College, Advanced Education , and languages from ten different countries. While I've had marvelous experiences, how well I've taught, I don't know. I'll never forget my fear of going to teach Arithmetic at the end of a school year with no preparation. The next day on my way in to teach, Sister Celesta said:
"Dear, do you wear glasses?" I said: "Oh, I only wear them when I have to." She said: " Well dear, from now on you wear them all the time when you are teaching that class. Besides, they make you look a little bit older." If you knew Sister Kathleen Kennedy, you knew that her students were well taught. By the way, it was Sister Kathleen's golden jubilee year and the Community was sending her to Ireland, her place of birth. Everyone was very happy for Sister Kathleen. She was a darling! I didn' t really do badly in Arithmetic in grade school. I had a bad experience in the seventh grade. I skipped the sixth grade. Sister Carlotta Murray turned the pages with her class when they moved from sixth to seventh grade, so she never reviewed. I just had John McGrady to cheat for me. lfl hadn' t had him, I don't know what I would have done, although I passed all the examinations. I didn't mind teaching fifth and sixth grade Math when I taught at St. Philip' s in Crafton. However, having to teach Math in the eighth grade was a different story, as you had to know the whole thing, especially as it was the end of the year. One big thing which was to my advantage was that Sister Kathleen, kept from year to year, bundled up neatly all the standardized diocesan tests which were given. I took a packet of these home every evening, worked out all of the problems, and then it was these problems I used every day. They were a real life saver! It was actually a very happy time. I was there with two or three younger sisters and with two or three older sisters. Sister Ernestine Palmer, who had taught me at St. John' s was there as a teacher. Sister Anne Frances Tighe was there. I got to go with her when she went to visit the Good Shepherd Sisters who were up on Troy Hill. They were enclosed. I saw the Magdalenes, and heard all about that Order. That was the end of 1930, and when I came back to Seton Hill, I was supposed to have been professed. Mother Rose Genevieve said: "My dear, if you don't soon go down to the professed sisters area, they'll think you' re not coming." So, with that being said, she escorted me to where the professed sisters resided. That was the end of my novitiate days.
SBMG: So, in other words, the vows that you made, you made at Christmas time, so that on May third, you were automatically a professed sister. There was no other ceremony. I see. I guess I always thought that it was at Christmas time, that you became professed sisters.
SSMCI: You were professed according to the five years that you had the habit. You made a three months postulancy. I entered on February second, and received the habit on May third, the Feast of the Holy Cross, which it no longer is. I would be professed then on May 3, 1930.
SBMG: What was your first mission as a professed sister? Where did you go then?
SSMCI: This is one of those things that you will also laugh at. I'm not trying to make these things up. They actually happened. When I came back from teaching at Holy Cross, Sharpsburg, I was told I would teach Senior High School English to a large group of Sisters. There must have been at least twenty-five in the class. Perhaps five or six of those were novices. All of the others were professed Sisters. Some of these were sisters who had taught me years before in St. John's Grade School. At that particular time in 1930, the Sisters of Charity had decided that everything had to be fixed up according to Harrisburg, PA. So wonderful sisters, young and old were put through sometimes a couple of high school classes for the second time. This was very hard on the sisters. If there was any doubt that a particular class would receive the proper credits, the class was repeated over sometimes for the third time. I would often look at those dear old sisters who had taught me and would just wonder.....why! I took my senior notes from Mother Claudia's English class and centered my teaching around these notes. Nothing could be better! I took the novices aside separately as they were my friends, many of whom were with me in grade school, but took the Commercial Course at Saint Augustine's, and therefore didn1t have Senior High School English. They had to take this English Course from little old me. However, I said to them: ''Now if you're going to take this course, you're going to take it from me. You're novices, and you're young. So, everything I teach you, and everything you're supposed to do, I'll expect it from you." There are going to be two sets of colored sheets in this class. Don't ask any questions. You just do your kind. I'11 help you if I can. I would look down at times and see an older sister's head down on her chest. I felt very bad about that. After about two days, I went to Sister Aloysius Blakely, who was in charge of summer school. I knew Sister from being around Seton Hill. She was a wonderful person. I told Sister Aloysius that she probably would want to change teachers of that class. She said: "Oh, I would, would I. What makes you think I should?" I said: "Well, I just want you to know that I don't intend to give Sisters, who know more than I'll ever know in my entire life, a test that would possibly give them a low grade. So, if that's cheating, so be it." I realize Sister Aloysius that we just recently had a lecture telling us that we had to teach our sisters using the same guidelines as those used to teach the girls in the college.
Sister Aloysius stood very tall. She rifled through a few papers and then said to me: "I don't
know why you're bothering me in the middle of the afternoon. Go and teach your classes the way you're supposed to teach classes and teachers don't bother telling other teachers what they are doing." That was my permission to do what I pleased with that class. We had a happy time. I tried to help those sisters. Some few of them, all are deceased now, used to tell me years later that they enjoyed that class, that I had been sympathetic. That was the summer of 1930. Then you asked me where I first went on mission after profession. At the end of that summer, I was sent to St. John's in Scottdale. Sister Angelica Little, who was a-wonderful English teacher, was changed, so I was sent in her place. Sister Marietta Flynn, a very fine Spanish teacher and Sister Mary Paul Coleman, an excellent History teacher were changed, and so I was sent in their place. I believe these sisters did other things besides teaching. However, I was sent to do the teaching work of these three very fine teachers.
SBMG: It is now September 17. 1986 Sister Suzanne, your first mission after you were professed was at St. John the Baptist High School in Scottdale. Would you like to tell me something about that?
SSMCI: I think I mentioned something about taking three peoples' places. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. It just so happened that those sisters were needed in some high school in Pittsburgh. Incidentally, Sacred Heart was going to start a special program which would require an expert, so Sister Angelica Little, went to Sacred Heart. I don't know at this time where Sister Marietta Flynn went. However, I was missioned to Scottdale after receiving my BA. At that time, as I told you, we were working very hard on sisters' requirements. So I set an example for other sisters by continuing my education. We were probably one of the best Apprenticed Teachers Groups in the country, thanks to Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers, Sister Aloysius Blakely, Sister Jane Elizabeth Smith, Sister Mary Cyril Aaron, and Sister M. Eucharia O'Hagan. Sister Mary Reginald Farrell also contributed by being a faithful secretary and keeper of the files. I was sent to teach English, Spanish, some History, and my home room Religion. There were other side jobs that the sisters had, such as directing singing. Now, Sister Angelica had and still has a beautiful singing voice and is very knowledgeable regarding the piano. You can imagine my taking the singing over, but that's what was so. Sister Harriet Omlor was accompanist, but she had a chronic sinus condition and did not sing.....ever ! She simply said: "Oh yes, Sister Angelica always taught the singing. I just played the piano." I didn't know exactly what I would do. I could never teach singing from notes. Well, we decided to go through all of the songs, and
picked out the ones I knew by heart. These were the songs which we used for the remainder of the year, and it turned out pretty well. Sister M. Joanna Gleason came the following year. She played the piano, so she could do things better. I have to say that I did enjoy the singing classes, and the children liked to sing. Sister Angelica also had the school paper, which was a new thing added to my duties. I worked along with that as best I could. Sister Marietta Flynn, who taught Spanish, also taught the girls' basketball team. Fortunately, as had been done by Sister Angelica, Sister Marietta had also trained the students well, so that the girls took over the coaching, and I did the supervising. I decided that one of the best, healthiest, things to do in a physical education program was to take long walks out to the cemetery and around the parish grounds. I don't know who took care of the boys. I had nothing to do with teaching them physical education, thank God. Another of Sister Angelica's jobs which became mine was the library. Again, it was a beautiful library. It was set up with the help of the sisters at Seton Hill and help from the parish. Father Lambing had the high school built on top of the grade school with provisions for a very fine library. The high school lasted until 1933. Father Lambing was deceased at this time, but I don't think that he would have let it close, ifhe was living. To sum up then: I had English, Spanish, American History, my home room Religion, the Library, Music, and class plays. I'm not being a martyr. I managed that year with a lot of fun. We had a number of good sisters there. We even inaugurated during that year, with the help of Sister Rita Catherine Cole, Mother Seton Clubs on the order that Mother Claudia had when I was in high school. At that time, our main business was to do the works of Charity....visiting the sick, caring for people, etc. I felt that the children at St. John's in Scottdale did a wonderful job. During that first year, there was a young couple who had a really sad disappointment. The young man had lost both of his legs at work due to an accident. They had a two year old child. He was at home for a long time and was very depressed. His wife took care of him. The boys and girls from St. John the Baptist helped that family out. They went to the home two or three times a week. always on Saturdays to relieve the
young mother so that she could go out to shop, to visit her own home, etc. The boys kept the
young man entertained in his own bedroom by getting him interested in other things. The girls took care of the baby and the boys and girls cleaned the kitchen and bathroom. That was one incident. There were others besides that. Understand that I was working with some remarkable students, who later entered the Community: Like, Mary Watson, later to become Mother Richard Ann, Sister M. Germaine Helwig, Sister Frances Louise Honeychuck, and my own postulant, Sister Agnes Joseph Hines. I was thinking the other day that we have had at least twenty vocations to the community from Scottdale. It would seem to me, that having a high school in a parish is a plus. I can't leave St. John the Baptist without talking about Father Lambing. He was a very spiritual man and a wonderful Religion teacher. His instructions were intellectual, theological, nothing none sensible about it. He had a marvelous memory. He'd send a boy over for a book he wanted, direct him to the shelf, and the page on which was the answer to the question he had in mind....no need to get the book. He loved St. John the Baptist High School.
Whatever any other high school had, St. John's would also have. So, when debates were put in the high schools by Father Coakley, we thought that they were too far away for us to take part in them. We didn't count on Father Lambing. We couldn't give him that excuse at all. Therefore, we did participate in the debates in Pittsburgh. That's when I learned not to sleep very well in the early part of the night. I sat in front of stoves long into the night at Scottdale. We did well in these debates. We even defeated Sacred Heart, which was a terrible thing. We. never should have done it. We also went to other areas which were having debates, such as: Uniontown, Connellsville, St. Justin's, etc. Toward the end of the second year, Father Lambing was seriously ill. In fact, he was a dying man. I asked the Curate ( don't remember his name at this time) ifhe could persuade Father Lambing to cease being on the debate teams. Father Lambing said: "Oh no, my sickness has nothing to do with the children in the high school. They're not to be made suffer in any way. Even should I die, just go on with the regular schedule. These debates were a very fine beginning for the catholic forensic league which was inaugurated in the dioceses some years later with the help of Sister Rosalee O'Hara. I don't know of anything else that I should say about St. John's except that we had a lovely convent, wonderful sisters, great grade and high school. The old church was quite small, but packed to the hilt for all services. I was there for two years. By March of 1933, I had to go into Pittsburgh hospital due to severe back problems. That was the end of my days at St. John the Baptist. The high school closed at the end of the 1933 school year. After the death of Father Lambing, Father Grainey, the new pastor, didn't feel that he could financially continue to keep the high school open. I was hospitalized for three months with the back trouble so that when it came time for the new school year to start, I was sent to the DePaul Institute for the Deaf simply because there was no room for me at Seton Hill. We didn't have Assumption Hall yet at that time. It was a wonderful experience for me. It gave me that extra something that I always brag about......teaching from first grade on, also teaching the deaf. I was given charge of a dear little; five year old girl for a short time, who had decided early on that she didn't care about eating. Therefore, she would just sit at the table with her little lips closed and wouldn't eat. Well, this couldn't continue to go on. In those days the children stayed at De Paul over night. She was from a little town. I was there with not much to do except to entertain the boys on Saturday afternoons by writing the ball scores on the board and keep them happy while they tried to get some news as to how the games were progressing. Well after a while Sister Teresa Vincent Mahoney and Sister M. Bernadette Hayes told me that I could be a great help to
them. They asked if I would sit with Lelona ( the five year old girl previously mentioned) while she ate her lunch. Today, when it's lunch time, you just sit there too. We're going to tell Lelona that she will have to sit at the table until she eats. Here I was with nothing else to do. The sisters thought that this would be the end of the eating problem with Lelona. I hate to tell you, but by two-thirty going on three PM, I was completely exhausted. I tried in every way I knew to make an impression on Lelona as to why she needed to eat. first by being sweet and then by being
severe. I never got anything but a black look from Lelona. The sisters laughed. They said: "Well, there's one person you can't do anything with." However, while I was there, Sister Teresa Vincent and Sister Emmanuel Manning often talked about the fact that Sister Emmanuel was never able to get any class work towards her Master's Degree as she had to teach, and the classes were always offered in the morning. I happened to say: "Too bad I can't do anything. I just feel terrible." Sister Teresa Vincent who knew me very well said: "And why can't you?" I said: "Well, I can't teach the deaf." She said: "Oh yes you can!" lfyou can teach, there's nothing about teaching the deaf here that you wouldn't do with anyone else. We don't use sign language here, so what do you think we do? They're used to reading your lips, provided that you stand with your face to the window. They can see the light on your face. Make sure you don't mouth anything. Just talk naturally. Well, I really thought that was strange, but if she was willing to have me, I would do it. I had a semester of teaching three wonderful people a young man who
got his PHD from Carnegie Mellon and from a university way out in the west, working in scientific, electronic things, another young man who wasn't interested in getting a PHD, but rather in having a business of his own, which he indeed has out in Lawrenceville, and Anna May, who had really just lost her hearing as a child. So, her speech wasn't completely gone. She just wanted to be a very fine woman...get married and have a family. That's exactly what she did. I taught these three students all morning. It was an enjoyable experience for me and it helped Sister Emmanuel Manning to get her classes that she needed. Sister M. Bernadette Hayes was a real mother to me. Sister Marie Antonio McLinden let me get away with murder when we had recreation. You know she used to be a little severe. When we had recreation, I used to go up, put on the music, and get Sister Teresa Vincent Mahoney to dance with me. Other sisters joined in the dancing...Sister Mary McClory and Sister Rosaline Walsh were wonderful dancers. Sister Marie Antonio would just sit, rocking during recreation watching us. This came to an end when a call came from Sister M. Emily Miller in Tucson, Arizona stating that we would have to take the junior high or she would have to come home....couldn't stand it any longer. The priests had been running it in between their priestly duties. That was hard on teaching, discipline, on everything at the other end of the hall. Sister Emily said that we (the community)-had to take care of the entire school. The priests would be welcome to visit, teach, etc. anytime. So, on February 14, 1934, I arrived via train, after being sick from Chicago out to Tucson, where I spent nine and a half of the happiest years in my life. I was not included in the list of six names of the sisters who opened the school in 1933. These sisters taught grades one through six. Between September and October things got to be too much. There was a seventh and eighth grade at the other end of the hall, but these were not under Sister Emily. Rather, they were taught by Father Patterson, who was a very good Benedictine, and Father Gattis, the priest who had invited the Community there to teach.
They were both good men, but as mentioned, their priestly duties took precedence over the teaching. The children were very undisciplined. If they felt like sliding down the stair-way
railing, they did so. They paid no attention to any correction made by another teacher. I came in time for dinner on February 14, 1934, and was teaching by one o'clock PM the next day.
SBMG: Sister Suzanne, Could you tell me a little bit more about how your going to Tucson came about and then go on to tell about some of the things that occurred during your time in the West?
SSMCI: I may be repeating, but at that particular time in Tucson they needed someone to help Sister Emily Miller out in the junior high. My time at De Paul, even though I helped out, was really a time of recuperation. I was just twenty-seven years old, a little young for retirement, so when the call came from Sister Emily in Tucson, it was decided that perhaps the sun in Arizona would be good for me. Having consulted with m-y sisters before they said anything to me, and finding that Irene thought it would be good for my health, and also after consultation with Mother Claudia Glenn, who was my sponsor, ( she was Sister Claudia at the time), they then informed me that I was going to Tucson, Arizona. I felt a little sad leaving De Paul, but I knew that without further education, it wouldn't be possible for me to continue work with the deaf. Most sisters traveled alone when they went West, but they sent Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub with me, probably due to my frail health. Sister Hildegarde and I went out via regular coach. Sister Francis Joseph Malloy and Sister M. Romano Donovan fixed us a very nice lunch. My brother, John, who had lived in Chicago for several years was very happy to meet us and take us to dinner. He became very disturbed with me because I wouldn't eat a full meal. I settled for a sandwich. Sister Hildegarde did enjoy the steak dinner, as did John and his companion. We then took a train for the remainder of the trip to Arizona. As mentioned earlier, I was ill. spent much time in the rest
room. We arrived about five o'clock PM on Valentine's Day. It was a beautiful evening, The sun was shining brightly. The sisters in the house extended a very cordial welcome to me. They were: Sister M. Emily Miller, Sister Cecelia Vincent McCartney, Sister M. Ermanilda Knepley, Sister Francis Mary Coleman, Sister Mary Estelle Hensler, Sister Mary Inez Clark, Sister Rose Catherine Ward, and Sister James Marie Malone. These sisters had been here since September, and I was to be added to the group. The next morning, Sister Emily suggested that we go up to see the rooms and be introduced to the children. About eleven o'clock AM, Sister Emily said: "Sister Suzanne, do you think you could handle the seventh and eighth grades together this afternoon?" Whatever it is in me, I don't very often say "No" in the community, so I said:"Surely Sister, I'll try." Sister Emily was grateful because it gave her an opportunity to take Sister Hildegarde around to see some of the sights in Arizona. I didn't know what I was going to teach. We pushed all of the desks into the eighth grade classroom. I happened to spy someone's desk which needed to be straightened up, so we cleaned desks according to a system my system,
which demanded that every book did this and every paper did that etc. So we were all kept very busy. They were all very well behaved and seemed to be happy enough. One little girl looked a little sad, but she didn't say anything. I noticed that her desk was very untidy and I was nasty enough to say: "Well, I hope your drawers at home don't look like that." I suppose I learned this from my experience with Lelona at De Paul. I was a very brash, young sister and of course over the years learned when or not when to say anything. Anyhow, that was the end ofmy first day. The next day I was in what was my regular classroom, the seventh grade, for about an hour and a half when Father Patterson came to the door and said:"Sister, there' s a lady downstairs who would
like to speak to you." Well, I had just begun to learn names and had things settled and thought it wouldn't be good to leave and besides I had been well trained at St. Philip's in Crafton. Neither Sister M. Beatrice Gority nor Father Kelty would have approved of that, and you always held Father Kelty above your principal. So, I said:"Father, I just came to Tucson and don't know anyone. Take all that business to Sister M. Emily Miller. She's the principal." He said: "Oh go on now!" Well, to make a long story short, I finally said:"If you stay in this classroom and promise not to leave it, I'll go downstairs." I went downstairs and stood very severe at the door and looked at a very lovely woman who also looked at me a little strange. Finally, I said:"I don't know you and you don't know me, so what could your business be on the first day?" She said:"Well, my little girl feels that she will have to leave this school." I said:"Does your little girl always tell you what she's going to do?" Well Sister, she feels that you don't like her. I said:"I think she's a little conceited. How could I dislike her when I don't even know her?" I'm too busy to talk about that now. If you want to talk to the principal, alright, but I have to go back whether your young daughter wants to stay in the school or not. Then she smiled and said:"Oh Sister, we
w on' t talk about it today. I'll talk to Madeleine." It turns out that Madeleine had described the very tall, jovial sister (Sister Hildegarde) who looked like she would be hard on children. I hadn't made any impression at all. So Madeleine and I became the best of friends. She was a lovely girl. Mrs. Johnston ( her mother ) has always been my best friend. Sister Brigid Marie, would you like to see Mrs. Johnston's picture?
SBMG: Surely. Was she the little girl whom you told that her desk was untidy?
SSMCI: Madeleine was the little girl, and she turned out to be a perfect lady and a wonderful sweet girl. I have her marriage picture, and ifl can find it, I'll show it to you also. Mrs.
Johnston' s picture is when she came to Pittsburgh to visit me and gave me a birthday party at The Gateway Towers.
SBMG: When did she come and have the birthday party for you? Do you remember the year that would have been?
SSMCI: Mrs. Johnston came to New York first to bring her daughter-in-law in hopes that she would cheer up and benefit from the trip. Mrs. Johnston's only son had been married to this woman, but was killed in World War II during one of his parachuting expeditions. I knew the son also who had written a letter to me saying that he was going to take me on a trip to Rome. I was teaching at Seton Hill at the time, so that was in the 1960's.
SBMG: Sister Suzanne, could you tell me something about the convent that the sisters lived in? I know that it was a regular house. Tell me about your life there, not having air-conditioning and . things that went with being a pioneer.
SSMCI: We were pioneers, but we were so happy that we didn't find too much fault with the lack of things. It was a family unit, in fact a small one. It had two bedrooms, a bath, a living room, a dining room right close to the living room. When a sister had a phone call at meal time, one would have to get up to let the other one out. Next to the dining room was a not too small
kitchen. It had a refrigerator that would accommodate perhaps two people, but not for a house full of eight or nine nuns who wanted ice-water. We never thought of it. We walked up to the school cafeteria to get ice. Sister Rose Catherine Ward was there the first year and she would get the ice. After that, we had Sister Mary Terence Clancy. She went up to the school regularly. One day, Father Davis, later Archbishop Davis was there. He asked Sister Mary Terence why she had come up to the school and Sister told him that she needed to get ice for the sisters because we were without it. The next day, Steinfelt's big truck drove up to the convent and presented us with a good sized refrigerator which Sister Emily didn' t know anything about. She was very much upset, and we couldn ' t understand why she was upset. She was a wonderful Sister Servant and
Principal. She kept all of her worries to herself. She told us very emphatically that we were to ask for nothing. It wasn't until sometime later that we found out that Father Davis was not a good administrator regarding money matters. Getting money was not a priority with him. He was later replaced by Archbishop Green. We had a very fine music program at that time. Sister Mary Inez Clark took care of it. I really don't have any official information, but I feel that the money brought in by Sister Mary Inez took care of our expenses. When we returned to Seton Hill for the summer, we were expecting to go back to a new convent. Father Patterson was not able to dispose of the old convent. People objected to the fact that the people he had intended to sell it to were going to use the facility for a Rest Home. So, for a while, we were to live in the old house. However, during the Summer, Father Patterson began to have construction of an addition which · provided four bedrooms in the front of the house and garages in the rear·of the house. The older sisters came out to Arizona via automobile, which was donated by Sister Mary Inez' parents.
Sister Mary Inez was the driver. This was the first car which the Community had. Those of us who went out by train, went out the day before. We stopped off in Chicago where my brother lives. We stayed at the Mercy's Business Women' s House overnight. We were very giddy the next morning. We weren't sure we were in a catholic church. The priest's Latin was okay, but.he had black vestments on, a woman was saying the Stations of the Cross, and an unrecognizable hymn was being sung from the gallery. Remember, this was in 1935, long before Vatican Il. At that time, Pittsburgh Diocese was remarkable. We had Father Rossini who was in charge of the music in the diocese. If you didn' t walk the chalk line, regarding the liturgy, the name of your parish was listed in the Pittsburgh Catholic. Father Coakley was put off the air because he didn' t agree with all of Father Rossini's directives. Because of our education and instruction regarding the Liturgy, we were- overcome that morning in Chicago. To backtrack a bit, my brother met us the day we arrived in Chicago. He took us to dinner and then afterwards to the Mercy' s Business Women's House overnight. My brother took us for a ride around Chicago after dinner. We. almost lost Sister Mary Terence Clancy. She and I were sitting in the front seat of the car. As we went around a comer, the car door flew open! I held on to her apron and my brother did everything he could to help. We did rescue her. After breakfast the next morning, we took the train to Tucson. When we got to the convent, the four bedrooms were completed, but there was much to be done by way of cleaning up. We were very much afraid that Sister Emily wouldn't like this and would have expected Father Patterson to call and perhaps have us wait for a month before coming. So, we got to work and didn't complain as we didn' t want to be sent back East. We didn' t want to lose this mission. During the time it took the sisters who were coming via car, we managed to get things cleaned up with the help of my nice boys from the Junior High. We
also decided that since we had such wonderful help that we would fix the Chapel up. So when Sister Emily arrived, she could see that we had painted the altar white and had freshened up the Chapel. After that it was on with the teaching. I taught Junior High which consisted of seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. That meant we taught Latin, Spanish, Literature as well as Grammar, as was taught in the Public Schools.
SBMG: It is September 30, 1986. This is a continuation of the oral history for Sister Suzanne McIntyre. Sister Suzanne, I hope that you will be able to tell us more about your experiences in Tucson during those nine and a half years.
SSMcl: I remember, I believe it was in 1937, that we participated in the National Spanish American Contest. We had two winners: Joseph Walsh won the first national prize, and John Swarlick won the first state prize. History was very important to the people in Tucson. I was presented with a bouquet of flowers ( as teacher ) for the occasion. Apart from the regular teaching, we had a lot of plays. While we were waiting for the car driven by Sister Mary Inez with Sister Emily and others to arrive, after we had completed cleaning and freshening up, we took a tour downtown, kindness of Father Patterson. We wanted some things for the chapel, which we did get...candle sticks and a Ciborium. We also discovered a beautiful Spanish seminary for boys ...St. Patrick' s. One of the big things we discovered was a large auditorium, not in very good condition, but nonetheless there. It had a full sized stage with stairs on either side. So, we convinced Father Patterson to obtain permission for us to hold plays there. It didn't take much coaxing. The Bishop gave full approval as did Monsignor (couldn't make out his name, only that he was French), who was the pastor. We got our cleaning crew together and scrubbed everything. Some of the parents also helped. So we had a wonderful full school play...down to the first grade. I taught the "Minuet" to the first grade. I've forgotten all the details of it, but everyone said it was great! Besides using that auditorium for plays, we introduced a lot of people to that hall, one of whom was a professor from "The University of Arizona." His name I believe was Fitzgerald. He had graduated from " Gregorian University" in Rome. He had considered being a priest, but health problems prevented his doing this. He was out in Arizona due to his health. He married a woman, who kept him stepping. He wanted to teach teachers who did not yet have their degree. In those days, you could teach if you had taken a two year course. Nevertheless, he willing taught these teachers at four thirty PM daily. Not too many people would do this. So, I and some of the other sisters attended Mr. Fitzgerald' s classes. I already had my degree, but always enjoyed taking courses. We had marvelous classes in Poetry...American and English, mostly English. He never needed a book. He had everything memorized. Our classes in Shakespeare were outstanding. Mr. Fitzgerald also turned out to be quite an actor. Some time after I had left Tucson, he developed a very fine Tucson dramatic club. It' s quite a large center in town. I know it' s gone now, as it wasn't there when I visited Tucson in May. She doesn't say which May. Just to say that we had two happy years of using this auditorium for many school plays. While in Tucson, we were good friends with the High School personnel, and had a number of plays in the auditorium there. When Bishop Green came, he objected to the plays encompassing the entire school during the holy seasons. He wanted "The
Upper Room", and only the ninth grade. Bishop Green and I became very fine friends, despite our
differences in opinions. I spoke to Sister Emily, and she said"Don' t argue. Just have the play,
and if it's a failure, Father will learn. If it's good, you'll be happy." It turned out to be a beautiful play. That's the last of the plays that I remember. We had clubs at St. Peter and Paul. First of all, I introduced the Mother Seton club. I was always proud to say that I was a student at Sacred Heart in Mother Claudia Glenn's class when she began the Mother Seton club. They were just seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, but were very proud to be in the club. We had ribbons with insignias on. So we had Mother Seton girls. In a few years, we had the boys complaining that the girls got everything. So, said I: "Would you like to be Knights of Seton?" Absolutely was the boys reply. Well, a mother of two of the boys asked me ifl would like something for the boys, and of course my reply was in the affirmative. She had real gold with blue insert pins made with the letters K OF S on them... Nothing like them. The girls were sort of woebegone about it.
We needed a library, so we turned the room which had been the resting room for the sisters into a library. The Knights of Seton were a tremendous help in getting this room together. The
girls helped too, but it was the boys who did the heavy work required. Sister Melania Grace, our librarian at Seton Hill sent me all the information needed to have the library be a proper one. We did have a good library, but we had no librarian in it all day long. I was teaching school all day. So was Sister Emily and everyone else. The Mother Seton Club (Girls) and the Knights of Seton (Boys) were a big help. The Knights of Seton were the most helpful. They kept Court once a week for those who got into any trouble. Other than assisting in the library, the boys and the girls did the usual things that were part of being in a Mother Seton Club home and hospital visiting,
etc. I should mention here, that we were the first school to win "The Golden Eagle" award for Girl Scouts.
SSMcl: Sister Brigid Marie, may I read you a letter written to me by a woman whom we taught in Arizona expressing her gratitude and thankfulness to the Sisters of Charity?
SBMG: Certainly. That would be wonderful!
To the Sisters of Charity at St. Peter and Paul School in the 1930'2:
Throughout my life, I often think of how lucky I was to have been taught by you. You really gave us a great education in every way. Like Hallmark, you cared enough about us to give us your very best. I especially remember Sister Mary Felix Clarey who taught me in the fourth grade. I think she was my favorite because she was genuinely happy to see you every day of the year. I also remember Sister Estelle Hensler teaching us about the great artists on little cards. It was then that I decided that Raphael was my favorite painter. The day it snowed, when we got out early to play those were Sister Emily's orders, practicing and singing every year in the
Lenten and Easter procession, every May bringing flowers for the Blessed Mother Statue, singing "Oh Mary, We Crown Thee With Blossoms Today", having our May crowning out on the front lawn ( a prized area). These are all such wonderful things to remember. How we all loved to have read Chesterton Brown's stories to us on rainy days! Sister Suzanne would tell us how far ahead of the public schools we were. When I had to transfer to a public school I found out how true that was. I made straight A' s the first year without even trying. I also recall how Sister Mary Inez Clark taught us some things about Music. But most of all, you taught us about God. I live a very simple life. I've been smart enough to know that loving God and trying to serve Him, trusting everything to Him is all that matters. He has never let me down. I learned this trust, this
sureness of God from you, and I could never thank you enough for that. I don' t know how anyone makes it through this life without God. Every time I meet someone who is unsure of Him, I think to myself: "There but for the grace of God through the Sisters of Charity, go I."
Thank You Very Much, Norma Kennyport
I would like to mention the time and effort that Sister James Marie Malone spent working with the boys on their sports. Sister James Marie was a martyr to the cause, but was the apple of the boys' eyes. Day after day, hour after hour she was out in the sun. Then at night, she spent hours getting her clothes clean. I used to wonder how she did it, though she said she enjoyed it. She explained how this love for ball sports came about. When she was very young, her mother died. Her Father used to take care of his little girls her and her sister Rosella by taking them on Saturdays and
Sundays to the ball games. She could tell you every single, solitary thing that happened in a game. When Father Patterson discovered her love for sports, he gave her the sports magazine
w eekly. Our habits were not quite suitable for the Arizona climate. When we went back to Pennsylvania for the summer, Sister Mary Gerald Conley, who was in charge of the clothes room for the Community, had found soft, washable, black fabric and it was agreed that we would do away with the back pleats to allow for a little more comfort. We wore these habits during the week while teaching, but of course on Saturdays, Sundays, and other special days, we wore our regular habits. Every Wednesday we went to the Childrens' Hospital. From that day until now, I can never see a banana without thinking of little Bobby. There were two sections. One was where the children were crippled in some way. The other is where the children had some form of Tuberculosis. There was some concern about going to this part. However, I have never been afraid of anything, so I took the Tuberculosis section. Bobby was my favorite little patient. He was always lying on what I would describe as an ironing board, with a hole in the top for his little head to look down in. He had to lie on his stomach constantly. After observing his tray for a period of three weeks or so, I noticed that he always got a half of a banana. There was a lovely, older nurse who worked there, and when I asked her about this, she explained that Bobby had a difficult time eating meat. So, eating the banana every day helped to take care of the need in his body. This elderly nurse was a war nurse. I discovered this after receiving a letter from her in which she said how much she enjoyed my visit to the hospital every Wednesday. She sent me a magnificent Hummel from Germany. Some years later I was told that Margaret (nurse' s name) was seriously ill in the Bethesda Hospital. I traveled with Sister Agnes Joseph Hines to Bethesda. Sister was visiting with her sister, and I visited with Margaret at the Bethesda Hospital. I remember Margaret saying that she was very pleased with Mother Seton, but that she wasn' t going to ask for any special favor. I think she knew her condition, and would just be happy with a very peaceful death. She looked at me very deliberately and said: "If you want me to pray to Mother Seton for a cure, I will do so earnestly." She didn' t receive a cure, but had a peaceful death. I believe that having a peaceful death was the cure Margaret received. Going back to Arizona now I had a boy in the seventh grade who came from New York. His mother was out
there due to a severe arthritic condition. I went to see her a few times. One time I hadn' t any medals, but I had a little red book. It had a picture of Mother Seton on the inside. When I went back to see her a week or so later, she said: "Sister, I hope you won' t be offended, but I tore the
picture of Mother Seton out of the book you gave me." I said: "Well, dear I left the book with you to do as you like. It is yours." I'm sure that you had a good reason for tearing the picture out of the book. Then she told me why she had done this. She said: "There is a young man down the hall so very crippled up with arthritis that they can't do anything for him. During the night a terrible thing happened to him in his abdomen. His sister ,who is a nurse came over and told me that the doctors said there was no hope for her brother. At the hospital, the doctors said that the only possibility of saving her brother would be if they could operate on him. They felt that he had some sort of obstruction. However, his arthritic condition was so severe that they weren't sure they would be able to operate. The sister came to the woman to ask her to pray for her brother.
The woman thought of the picture of Mother Seton and gave it to the sister saying: "Here, you put this picture of Mother Seton under your brother's pillow. I'll pray to Mother Seton and you pray too." So the sister took the picture to the hospital, knelt and prayed all night with a picture of Mother Seton in one hand and a crucifix in the other. The next morning, the doctors were to make their final decision about surgery. They couldn't believe the change in the boy's condition and had no medical explanation for his recovery. There was no need for surgery. He continued to have his arthritic condition. I know I had much to say about our teaching, but would like to add something about the teaching we did outside of the class room situation. We went to Children's Hospital on Wednesdays. On Saturdays, the Sisters went to the pre-ventorium. I didn't go there. I did remedial teaching on Saturdays. On Sundays, we taught the deaf and the blind.
SBMG: Well then, how was it that you left St. Peter and Paul's? Did you come back East from there?
SSMcI: Oh, before I leave St. Peter and Paul's, you have to hear about my summers. We did some of the most important things during those summers. In the Summer of 1935, which was my first summer there, I went to California as a companion to Sister Mary Felix Clarey, to visit Sister's brother, Father Hyacinth, whom she hadn't seen for years. Sister Mary Felix had planned to have this trip for a long time.· The morning we were to leave, I accidentally knocked my glasses on the floor, breaking them. Sister Mary Felix said: "Take your glass prescription with you. You are going to California." Father Hyacinth (her brother) met us in San Diego. The first thing he had to do was find an oculist for me to have my glasses taken care of. The World's Fair was in San Diego that year. I of course went to it and enjoyed every minute of it. From San Diego, we went up to Sierra Madre. We went to visit the Japanese Maryknoll Sisters in Pasadena. They have a Rest Home or Hospital there for their sisters and for other people too. I saw their little Sister Suzanna. She was about my size. She was a patient there. We became friends. I must admit I was a little bit ignorant in asking Sister Suzanna how long she and her family had been catholic. She looked at me very sweetly, smiled and said: "Sister we go back to St. Francis Xavier. My family lived on the island that he gave instructions to." She made me feel so small, not intentionally, but she could trace her catholic ancestry back over three hundred years, and I don't know where my great grandfather came from. My connection with Sister Suzanna was before the war. She became a prisoner of war in Arizona some years later during the second world war. She was in a camp with about seven others. It certainly wasn't cruel like the war camps in Europe, but they were not treated very nicely either. We went to a popular beach on the Pacific Ocean (I couldn't determine the name of it) while in California. This resort area belonged
to a wealthy oil man who the Passionists knew. So, Father Hyacinth was able to make reservations for us to stay at the cottage (was really a beautiful home) belonging to this gentleman. I have never before nor.since lived in such a luxurious place. We had three weeks there. It was glorious! I've never been too fond of the Atlantic Ocean since this experience. The Pacific Ocean is peaceful and calm whereas the Atlantic is rather rough. That was the end of the 1935 Summer. The next Summer, 1936, Father Hyacinth felt that we should have another enjoyable one. That Summer, Father Hyacinth came for us. He brought with him a French, Japanese gentleman driving the car. We went via Reno all along the coast where the Missions were located. I got to see all of them. We had a frightening experience along the way. I could see a great deal of fog, but our lights didn't seem to be doing any good. I knew something was wrong. Sister Mary Felix was getting nervous as she knew that Father Hyacinth would be upset at my saying something. However, Sister Mary Felix finally said: ''Now listen Raymond (he was the French, Japanese gentleman), you'll just have to listen to Sister Suzanne. If you don't, she's just going to make us a nervous wreck." So, Father Hyacinth instructed Raymond to stop the car.
Sure enough, our lights were dead. So after traveling very slowly, we came upon what looked like an army camp. They fixed our lights and we were on our way. We were supposed to be in Sierra Madre, but this wasn't possible. We stayed in a Motel over night. Sister, I can't remember what happened in 1938. One thing that we did do that Summer was to go to Chandler, at Father Patterson's request to teach the Mexican children Religion. Sister James Marie Malone and I did this. Father wanted us to live in a remote area, which would have made things difficult for us.
Father Patterson maintained that he would come and take us to Church, shopping, etc. However, I persisted in telling him that we were not going to do this, and that surely there was somewhere we could live during those summer weeks. We ended up in what really was a shack. We scrubbed and cleaned, with the help of some older boys who lived in the area. That was a real experience that summer. My sisters decided, of all things to come to visit me that summer. I
made the Sacred Heart Novena. It surely is powerful. There was a woman who lived nearby. Her husband was a newspaper editor. He was not a catholic, but she was. She wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help. I told her about my sisters coming and she said they would be welcome to stay at her house. She said she had a spare bedroom with a private bathroom, which they would be welcome to. So the problem was solved. Father Patterson saw to it that they had a trip to the Grand Canyon. Irene and Mary (my sisters) said that was the best trip they had in their entire life. They thought Father Patterson was wonderful. Irene and Mary bought some First Communion clothes for the little Mexicans. They were a large Communion class. There were thirty-nine children, ages nine to nineteen. Sister James Marie had a class of seven and eight year olds, who also made their First Holy Communion. They were all very polite children. Sister Rita Ann Woods was also with us. She worked upstairs with the babies teaching them to sing. I went back the next year with: Sister James Marie Malone, Sister Mary Cletus Murphy, and Sister Rita Ann Woods. This year, Father Patterson would not permitted us to go back and live in the shack which we inhabited the previous summer. We had made our point. The people in Chandler were impressed that we would live the way we did for their children. A lovely young family went to Father and said that they were going East for the entire summer, so the sisters will be welcome to stay at our house. We lived in a nice, comfortable, place that summer. The couple made no restrictions regarding the use of things. We
were never neglected by the people even when living in the shack. For example, every morning we would find fresh grapefruit outside our door, and even though it was not good grapefruit season for eating, we had delicious freshly squeezed juice. Father Patterson himself, who was once a Benedictine, would never let himself forget how the .people lived. He was no longer a Benedictine, due to health problems. The third year we went back, Sister Mary Cletus Murphy was not with us. We were: Myself, Sister James Marie and Sister Ann AugQ.Sta Schroth. We lived in a different house that summer. It was someone's house again. That seemed to start a pattern. This was a much larger house with lots of room. We didn't get any company from the East as last summer when my sisters Irene and Mary came. Sister Ann Augusta had to have an emergency appendectomy that summer. We always had large classes in the summers. I should say that we managed to have Mother Seton Clubs during our summers, so we were spreading devotion to Mother Seton in Tucson and in Chandler. So, I had three happy summers teaching Religion in Chandler. For some reason, I believe Father Patterson was negotiating to start a regular school in Chandler, so we didn't go back to Chandler the fourth summer. In Tucson, they had started a CCD program by that time. I was asked to be principal of the Junior High CCD. We had the use of the public school buildings and facilities for the summer. We had eight grades. There were: Two Sisters of St. Joseph, one Immaculate sister, who taught the Music and a class, two volunteer teachers who taught there during the school year, and some High School girls, whom I had taught. The enrollment that summer was about three hundred. This was the year of 1941 when I didn't have an assignment in Chandler. The summer of 1942, we went to Ajo. In the beginning, we lived in luxury in the house of someone who had gone East as in Chandler. In Ajo, the Copper Company had built a beautiful church...The Immaculate Conception. There was a large hall which was very adequate for our teaching. Sister Dominica O'Connor was with me that summer. However, Sister Dominica became quite ill with Rheumatic Fever and had to be hospitalized. She was not permitted to teach for the remainder of the summer. Father Connare (the priest who had invited the sisters to teach for the summer) was concerned about proper accommodations for Sister Dominica, so he graciously moved into the house where we were staying, and we moved into the Rectory. Both in Ajo and Chandler, we found that the people had great devotion to the Blessed Mother, particularly to May devotions.
When June came, the people in both places also were deeply devoted to the Sacred Heart. As a - result, I learned many hymns in Spanish to Mary and many to Jesus.
SBMG: Sister, I was wondering if you spoke Spanish to the people in Chandler and Ajo when you were there.
SSMcl: When I could make myself understood I sometimes spoke Spanish. However, we were working on the principle that the children had to be educated in English. Therefore, we spoke English more frequently. I also want to say here that the people in Ajo were educated. They had a fine school. They were also religious. They had many religious customs, as in May devotions. They had a procession every night. This also happened in June for devotion to the Sacred Heart. SSMcl: When I returned to Tucson after being in Ajo the summer of 1943, I was told my ticket had been bought, and that I would take the train to Pennsylvania the next day. I said: "What is so important in Pennsylvania?" I did laugh, but I was angry. However, I said that I wouldn't go without stopping in Chicago to see my brand new niece. We did stop off, and stayed in Chicago.
Then we went home. I had been out in Arizona from February of 1934 until June of 1943. I had a class of seven sisters in Spanish that summer at Seton Hill. The only name I'll mention is Sister Mary Eleanor Frederick , because the sister who the class was really for wasn't interested, but Sister Mary Eleanor and I had some good times. After the course was over, I went up to Erie with Sister Mary Dorcas Smith, my dear friend. Her family owned a cottage in Erie. So, we had an enjoyable week there. In those days, the Mission list (our assignments) were read in Cecilian Hall. As we weren't going to be there to hear our assignments, I ventured into Mother Claudia Glenn's office before leaving for Erie and asked if she could let me know my assignment. She said: "Oh yes, dear. You're going to go to Johnstown Central High School. Father Cauley wants you to teach a Spanish course there." Well Johnstown seemed to me to be farther away than Tucson. My first reaction was: "My sisters don't drive a car and it's harder to get to Johnstown than Tucson." They won't have any way to get there, nor would I be able to go home. Well, I cried for about fifteen minutes. Then as usual, Sister Mary Dorcas said: "Okay Suzanne, that's enough now. Dry the tears. Nothing is going to happen. Everything is going to be alright." I had
an enjoyable time in Erie with Sister Mary Dorcas and her family. I came home and went to
Johnstown. I was never sorry about those two years. They were happy ones. I lived with wonderful sisters, like Sister M. Gregory Farrell. The boys in the school were very fond of her and in fact, considered her to be saintly. I also lived with Sister Marguerite Guinagh who was very holy. So the three ofus then taught in the high school-Sister M. Gregory, Sister Marguerite and me (Sister Suzanne). We lived at Our Lady of Mercy convent in Prospect. It was a poor convent. In those years 1943, I suppose were war years. Sister M. Hortense Barclay, the superior would hurry to the store at noon with food stamps trying to buy enough substantial food for our dinner. The people didn't always know we were in need, but when they did, they would bring us loaves of home made bread. If you have this, it helps to take care of your need for food. We were definitely in a deprived situation, though I must admit I was never hungry. I must remind you of the great kindness of the sisters and of the people. We traveled to and from school via car. There was a young lady in the parish who generously and lovingly transported us daily to and from school. The high school was wonderful. Father Cauley was the principal and was indeed an excellent one. I had almost all boys with six girls in my Spanish class. I made just one mistake. I learned a great deal in those two years. The mistake was: One day, one youngster, for a little longer than I could put up with became annoying by interrupting. After giving him what I felt was fair warning, he persisted in this behavior. I simply said: "Take your books and leave.
Report to Father Cauley's office at three-fifteen." I didn't ask anything else. I didn't give him a
chance. In the high school at that time, we could put a finger on a little box which would connect us with the office. All I said at this time is that I was dismissing a certain young man(gave name). Father Cauley did try to speak to me about accepting the boy back in class, but I said, no, he can't return to my class. Father taught me a lesson by saying:"Don't speak quickly and tell someone they can't come back." He went on to say that the saddest part of the situation was that the young man had to graduate from a public high school. His family for three generations graduated from
a catholic school. His mother is broken hearted that he will graduate from a public school. I was glad, some years later, to meet another young man from that class. He told me that the young man whom I had expelled was doing fine. He turned out to be a fme lawyer and a good catholic. He also told me that he ( boy who was expelled) thinks highly of me. I think it is interesting to note
that I taught all boy classes while in Johnstown. I had all boy report rooms..freshman one year, juniors the next year, Religion, etc. It's really nice to teach boys' religion. They listen to what you have to say. It means something to them. The second year there I had an all boys history class. The only class which had a mixture of girls and boys in it was Spanish.
SBMG: Sister Suzanne, you said that you were in Johnstown for two years. You became ill the Spring of the second year. Did that have anything to do with your leaving Johnstown?
SSMcl: I don't know that it contributed to my having to leave, but nonetheless I left in the summer . At this time, I was under the care of Doctor Deptha in Pittsburgh. At the end of the summer, I was missioned to St. Luke's in Carnegie to teach Spanish. I had six very pleasant years in St. Luke's. I loved St. Luke's children. The reunion in 1985 was a remarkable thing when all those children came to the Hilton. I have a whole envelope of pictures about th(;! event. I went to St. Luke's in 1945 and was there until 1951. While in Carnegie, I worked with Sister Rosalee O'Hara on some speech projects. We also had debates. What I do remember about Carnegie is that it always reminded me of my own high school. While in Carnegie, I was with a lot of sisters who were my contemporaries. It made it very interesting to discuss, to argue, etc.
We had Sister Rosalee O'Hara, Sister Mary Bernard O'Brien, Sister Marie George Abbot, Sister Alexine Beam, Sister Mary Rose Knorr, Sister Edith Marie Fullen, Sister Mary David Doyle, and Sister Marie Dolores Haney. As we know, these sisters were all good teachers. We all had strong personalities, so it made things interesting. Sister M. Emily Miller was our superior and a fine one at that. Sister Emily was like the rock of Gibraltar. What I remember about Sister Emily is that she had a dish at her place in the community room. Every day she would put change in it for people's possible needs. Today we would call that money petty cash. A sister remarked to her that it was pretty risky putting money out in that way. She replied: "Sister, every sister has taken a vow of poverty as I have. Each one can keep their vow of poverty. I don't have to keep anyone else' s." I forgot to mention Sister Mary Carlos Smith, who was our wonderful cook at St.Luke's for several years. I taught CCD work at St. Barbara's while in Carnegie. I liked being able to continue this ministry.
SBMG: Sister Suzanne, you mentioned traveling to Pitt by train. Is that when you got your master' s degree?
SSMcl: Yes Sister. Sister Marie George Abbot and I went to Pitt. In the summers, I stayed at DePaul Institute which was very much to my liking. Ifl hadn't had a sick spell I would have graduated the summer of 1949. I got my degree in August of 1951. I had a major in English and a minor in Spanish and History.
SBMG: Where was your next assignment after St. Luke's in Carnegie?
SSMcl: I was assigned to St. Jame' s in West End. For four months I had a happy time. I had the Junior boys and girls. We were getting along fine and then unfortunately I came up with a very painful arthritic condition. I was put in Pittsburgh hospital under the care of Dr. Ballantyne who I didn' t get along with. After being discharged, I went to Seton Hill to recuperate. This really
began my career at Seton Hill. There was Miss Geyer who became very ill and died. So, I was given some of her courses to teach. Also, I had been helping Sister Miriam Joseph Murphy who went off to Wisconsin to work on her doctorate. I taught her classes in American literature, which she didn't like, but rather preferred English literature. I was then at Seton Hill this time from 1952-1962. Those ten years were very happy years at Seton Hill. I enjoyed all the advantages that there were from being at Seton Hill.
SBMG: Then where did you go after you left teaching at Seton Hill college in 1962?
SSMcI: Again, I had become ill. I had an exploratory operation in Pittsburgh hospital to determine the reason for my illness. As it turned out, they removed my gall bladder. I recovered from the surgery, but developed a kidney infection. After being discharged from the hospital, I was at Assumption Hall where I received wonderful care. Sister Philippa Henry and Sister Mary Carol Murphy were the nurses and saw to it that I was given such care. In 1963, Mother Claudia sent for me. At this time, she showed me a letter from my sister, Irene, requesting that I be permitted to go to the canonization of Mother Seton. I told Mother that I couldn' t go. She said: " You can' t?" I said: "Well, no, all the sisters ...all the sisters who are out on mission working hard, and I haven' t done a thing for a year." She then said: "Would you like to go?" I said: "Is there anyone who wouldn' t want to go?" Mother then said: "Well, just go out of obedience to satisfy your sisters." So I did. I was one of the twenty that the Community sent to the canonization. We started in Portugal at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. So I got to pray for everyone there. Then we went to Rome and were very close to the Pope when he was saying Mass. In the afternoon at the Basilica, due to my size I would have been way back where it would not have been possible for me to see. However, I pretended not to understand the directions on my paper regarding seating arrangements and ended up sitting with Sister Macaria Nestor and Sister Mary Amy Connelly near the main altar that the Pope spoke from. They were waiting for me. The next place we went to was France. We went to the shrine where Our Blessed Lady had appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure. It was one of the most prayerful experiences I have ever had. We also got to pay our respects to Saint Vincent de Paul. The next day we took a train to Lourdes. Of all the sisters who were on the tour, only two took advantage of the bath at the shrine in Lourdes. One was a Daughter Of Charity from Missouri, and the other was Sister Suzanne McIntyre from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful experience. I can't tell about it on this tape, but I do feel that I am alive today due to Our Lady Of Lourdes curing me. I gave orders at the hotel that I was to be called early in the morning. So I rose at six a.m. in order to be ready to go to the Basilica. From Lourdes we went to Ireland. When we got to Dublin, you knew it was Lent. In Dublin, morning, noon, and night, people were going to Mass and were looking like they were fasting. We were told that we were exempt from fasting as we were on a tour. Of all of us, about twenty sisters, I was the only one who returned home without getting sick. I didn' t so much as have a sniffle. That was Lourdes and all those holy places! When I returned to Greensburg (Assumption Hall), I wrote a letter to Sister Theodosia Murtha requesting to move over to Seton Hill and perhaps even teach some classes. So, in June of 1963, I went over
to Seton Hill. I did teach one class in Children's Literature, and helped out at the main desk in the Administration Building. At the end of the summer, Mother Claudia Glenn sent for me and told me that I was going to go to Sacred Heart High School to teach Spanish. You understand I had
been ten years at Seton Hill and had not taught one Spanish class. During those ten years, I had concentrated on American Literature, particularly in Wisconsin. I had taken other classes in Literature, Journalism, and Research, but nothing in Spanish. I did a little arguing about this to no avail. I landed at Sacred Heart in September. So I was back at my Alma Mater. I had a Freshman home room. I taught two classes of Senior English, two classes of Spanish, and a class of Freshman Religion. You will remember that John Kennedy was assassinated in November of that year. I had a sick spell which put me in the hospital for a week. I do feel that his death had something to do with this. As a result, when I returned home, my teaching schedule was greatly reduced. They kept me on that year to teach Spanish. However, after that year, I managed a full time schedule for a number of years. I'm still here at Sacred Heart, and I could go on for hours Sister Brigid Marie about all the wonderful people here.
SBMG: What about your work with the Spanish Honor Society in Pittsburgh? I know you used to be very involved with it.
SSMcl: Thank you, Sister. Yes, the AATSP, the American Association of Teachers for Spanish and Portuguese. I should never pass that up. For some reason or another, some lovely gentleman in New Jersey nominated me to be the National counselor for the AATSP. My first meeting with the organization was in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a delightful experience for me because I always met with very kind, intelligent, humble people. We did a lot of good things. A highlight was a trip to Madrid. We did our convention work during the daytime. Therefore, we got to see many things. I met up with a group of the Daughters of Charity while there. I had the privilege of having the final five days to rest and enjoy. During this time I met many fine people...mostly in the dining area. The food was delicious. We didn' t have any waitresses. They were all waiters. I spent these five days on the coast of Del Sol, which was within walking distance of the Rock of Gibraltar. I stayed in a family oriented hotel. It was delightful! During my time with the AATSP, I had other trips. One was to Toronto, Canada. There was a trip to California, which I wasn' t able to go on due to sister, Irene becoming very ill.
SBMG: Sister, when you were talking about teaching Religion in St. John Evangelist, Tucson, it struck me that you were the first or one of the first Sisters to bring the Word Of God to the people in the West. Could you summarize that for me, please?
SSMcl: Well, I went out to the West in February of 1934. In 1935, Father Stohler, managed in December to get the chapel. At first, I went out alone with a companion girl to teach catechism. The other Sisters were all spread out teaching the deaf and blind, etc. They also went to many of the distant areas to teach catechism. This .was in 1935. I continued to teaching catechism until I left Arizona. In 1938, I went to Chandler. I wasn't alone in Chandler. Sister James Marie Malone and Sister Rita Ann Woods were with me there. I was in Chandler from 1938 until 1941. From 1942-1943, I went to Ajo. Sister Dominica O' Connor accompanied me there.
SBMG: Looking back on her life, there are a number of things that Sister Suzanne would like to tell us about.
SSMcl: After looking at a picture last evening, I think it is important for me to tell you about the Mariachi Mass in Puerto Baca,Mexico (I don't know if this is what Sister is saying though I tried to determine.) The Cathedral in Puerto Baca was built by the early Spanish settlers there. You could put this entire Cathedral in Sacred Heart Church. There was a very fine Bishop there. The Mariachi singers connected with the Mariachi singers from Mexico had composed music to be played at Mass. The Bishop there gave them permission to use a record of this music at his Mass. So on a Sunday while I was there I attended this Mass. It was most reverent, but also definitely Mariachi. The people came in bus loads to that Mass. Much to my surprise, there was a bus load of Daughters of Charity in full regalia. Even though the Spanish people were not prone to accept religious in religious attire, they were most accepting of these Sisters probably because they manned the hospitals in the poorer sections of the cities. The people in Mexico still had laws in their books against priests and sisters. I too was suspect, but when asked to change, I said: "I don't ask anyone from Mexico to wear something American when they come to the United States, and as a citizen of the United States, I believe I should be permitted to wear what I please." Mass begins at the back of the church and it is also where the presiding priest delivers his homily. This is where the Baptismal Fount is, quite a large one in case any adults want to be Baptized. The Sunday I was there, there must have been about fifty priests accompanying the Bishop. The Bishop then intones the Confiteor, which is the beginning of the Mass. We have windows above our altars, but they have balconies above theirs. Important people sit up there during the Mass.
At the Sign of Peace, the Bishop and the accompanying priests walked the full length of the Cathedral extending the Sign of Peace to everyone. The Blessed Sacrament is not reserved on the altar, but in a separate room. This was so that no one could do any harm to the Blessed Sacrament. A person really had to know their way around in order to find this separate little chapel.
There is another thing I would like to tell you about. In 1955, Mother Claudia Glenn sent me out to Tucson. I had never been asked to work with the young sisters, but in this case, I was sent to help Sister Mary Ann Farrell and Sister Esther Marie Phillips, both of whom were postulants.
I'm not going to say any more about it. Perhaps some day these two sisters may relate the experience.
I want to say now that the Community has been most gracious with me. I have had opportunity to learn, opportunity to travel, opportunity to improve my spiritual life, if I would. In spite of all the opportunities received, I feel that I have been a financial burden at times. It seems that since 1962, I spend time in the hospital every other year or so.
SBMG: I really don' t think we have much room left on this tape. So, I think we'll just close, thanking you very much for your giving us this information. I feel that we have some very valuable information. I learned a lot about you and feel that anyone listening to these tapes would have the same experience.
Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: I transcribed this oral history on Sr. Suzanne McIntyre from cassette tapes. It is somewhat edited. I completed it on January 12, 2011.
Original Format
Audio cassette tape
Duration
31:00
31:00
31:01
31:00
31:00
31:02
31:04
31:02
31:00
31:00
31:01
31:00
31:02
31:00
31:02
31:08
31:00
31:01
31:00
31:00
31:02
31:04
31:02
31:00
31:00
31:01
31:00
31:02
31:00
31:02
31:08
Bit Rate/Frequency
96kHz
Collection
Other Media
Citation
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, “Oral History: Sister Suzanne McIntyre,” Collections of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Archives, accessed May 5, 2024, https://scsharchives.com/items/show/700.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.