Oral History: Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp

Oral History: Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp

Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp

An oral history of Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1928 until 2006. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on November 19, 1986, February 18, 1988, February 20, 1988, March 3, 1989, and October 28, 1989.

Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp was born on April 21st, 1912 in Scottdale, Pa. Daughter of Henry Schildkamp and Mary Kosler, Florence Catherine Schildkamp entered the community on July 2nd, 1928 at the age of 16 as Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp.

Sister Mary Agnes taught upper elementary for 12 years and secondary for 20 years. She was an administrator in elementary for 3 years and in secondary for 13 years. She was the Director of Project Forward for 4 years. She taught at Elizabeth Seton High School, St. Luke's, and St. Pancratius.

Sister Mary Agnes received her B.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1943 where she also studied biology and history. Then, in 1956, she received her M.A. in English and Philosophy from Catholic University.

Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp passed on November 3rd, 2006 at the age of 94.

Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill

Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill

1986/11/19

1988/02/18

1988/02/20

1989/03/03

1989/10/28

All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Audio cassette tape

Oral history

OH-52

Sister Marie Corona Miller

Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp

OH 52-1-2-3 Sr. Mary Aqnes Schildkamp
SMCM: This is an oral history for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The Interviewee is Sr. Mary Agnes Schildkamp and the Interviewer is Sr. Marie Corona Miller. The interview is being conducted at the Greensburg Faculty House. The date is November 19, 1986. It will be kept in the Archives of the Sisters of Charity at Caritas Christi.

SMCM: Good afternoon, Sr. Mary Agnes. How are you this afternoon? SMAS: I'm fine, Sr. Marie Corona. Thank you.

SMCM: Would you like to tell us something about your personal history?
SMAS: Yes. I'll tell you about my community history. The records will show that I entered the Community from St. John the Baptist in Scottdale on July 1: 1928, which was my sixteenth birthday. A few weeks prior to this I completed my Junior year in High School on August 28, 1928. Sister Marion McKelvy entered with me. I remember Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers coming to the convent at St. John's in Scottdale, at which time she arranged for me to enter on July 1, 1928. It was Sunday and when it got to be five o'clock, my family had to leave. I didn't know my way around. Fortunately, Sr. Marion McKelvy, who had graduated from the college arrived. She introduced herself and proceeded to take me to the Sister's Dining R,oom for dinner; It was Summer, so all of the sisters were home, which was about five. hundred in ilumber. That night, I was taken to my sleeping quarters. There were either six or eight people in the dormitory, two of which were former teachers...Sr. Angelica Little and Sr. Serafina Mazza.
There they were, the same dormitory. They were senior novices. It was my mother who favored my entering the Sisters of Charity. My father had his normal, masculine doubts. I think deep down he was pleased. I finished my fourth year of high school the February after entering. I did then, February of nineteen twenty-nine begin taking college courses. Classes were assigned to you. I was to have Sister Stanislaus McVay for history and Sister Beatrice Gority for Introduction to Teaching.

SMCM: Could you tell us anything about Sister Stanislaus?
SMAS: Yes. Today, we talk about global history. Sister Stanislaus's history was more about local history. I couldn't tell you how many times I had my father volunteer to take the class to Bushy Run! He enjoyed it.
I was supposed to take Introduction to Teaching as aforementioned. Well, I hadn't been going as my other classwork was keeping me so busy. One day, Sister Eveline Fisher, who later became Mother Eveline, stopped me and asked why I hadn't been going to this class. I didn't know any better, so simply responded that it would be too difficult for me to take this class and keep up with my other assignments. Well, I soon learned that you did what was assigned.

SMCM: Who was your Mistress of Novices, and who was in charge of the Community? SMAS: Mother Mary Francis McCullough was the Mistress of Novices, and Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers was in charge of the Community.


SMCM: When did you receive the habit?
SMAS: Sr. Marion McKelvy and I received our names and the habit on October 2, 1928. We received the habit in the Oratory on Third Administration the evening before. Everything was as usual the next day. We had Mass, meals were in silence, all proceeded as in a regular day.

SMAS: I was sent to St. Anselm's in Swissvale as a white cap, which is not ordinarily permitted. It was to replace Sr. Mary Alfred Sharp, who was ill. It was a seventh grade. It was just a matter of a few weeks. I remember Sister Benedicta Kelly, very formally, and authoritatively telling her little children that I was a very important person because I was wearing a white cap. Only important people wore white caps. From there I substituted at Sacred Heart on Center Avenue from December until June. Sister M. Eugenia Hileman was the principal. It was a temporary assignment. Some of the students I taught in my time there were: Sr. M. Rosaline Walsh, Sr.
Mary Janet Ryan, Sr. Jane McNulty, and Vincent Mcconaughy, brother of our Sr. Margaret Teresa McConaughy, with whom I kept in contact for many years. Vincent became a Maryknoll Missionary for many years. From there I went to St. Stephen's in Hazelwood. By this time it was about 1930. I have very warm recollections of my three years at St. Stephen's. It was during the years of the Great Depression. I saw the soup kitchen in operation, the steel mills, great care on the part of the priests, the sisters, and all parishioners. I was at St. Stephen's for three years.
Sister Borgia Casey was the Sister Servant and Principal. I don't mind saying for the sake of history that one of the reasons why my experience there was so warm was due to the fact that Sister Borgia was such a great lady! I've gone through more than fifty years since then and haven't found dedication to surpass hers. She wasn't just herself dedicated to teaching in the classroom, but taught other teachers to do the same. I know now that more than half the sisters in the house felt that we were so fortunate to have had Sister Borgia. We were still novices as we
had a five year novitiate. ( Sister mentions other sisters whose names I ccmldn't detect, the only one being Sr. Rose Eileen Brazell). I was teaching seventh grade there a year and a half before Sister Borgia came into my classroom. She was always positive. If she had a favorite subject, it was composition. For example, if something was written on the board that wasn't up to par, she· would just comment by saying something like:" I know that there must be something good in this paragraph by Johnnie Cherubim ( I remember him). . Otherwise, Sister would not have let Johnnie write this on the board." Johnnie had written about Pontius Pilate. In the middle of the paragraph he wrote: "And Pontian Pilate, the dirty devil."When she got to that, Sr. Borgia said: "Yes, Johnnie was angry at Pontius Pilate." Then she would graciously proceed, enhancing the lesson. I had taken a course in Methods of Teaching English Composition from Sr. Teresa Clare Kernan at Seton Hill in Maura Hall the summer before. It was quite a large class, and Sr. Teresa Clare had already become a popular, experienced teacher even though she was not that much
older than I. I wasn't afraid to see Sr. Borgia after school regarding the interview. Perhaps I was feeling over confident because she may have been looking for me to say I had done a good job.
However, when she met me that evening, she said: "Oh, Sister Mary Agnes, that must have been a wonderful course in English Composition that Sr. Teresa Clare Kernan taught you." She didn't say I did a wonderful job at all. I told this to Sr. Teresa Clare many times.
From St. Stephen's, I went to Holy Innocents in the Sheraden part of Pittsburgh for one year. Then I went to Cathedral in Altoona for six years. It was a busy place. I was there from 1934


until 1940. The most influential event was in 1939. Bishop Guilfoyle insisted that there·would be a good, active, sodality, consisting of both girls and boys in the eighth grade. Sister Agnes Marie Reuber was the Principal and Sister Servant. Sr. Agnes Marie and I were sent to attend classes under Father Daniel J. Lord ( what it sounds like). He had what he called "Summer Classes for Catholic Action", which took place in six locations throughout the country for six summers. Sr. Agnes Marie and I were fortunate enough to be asked to go to one in Washington, DC for a week in summer school. That in itself was a wonderful experience as Father Lord was a dynamic teacher as well as Counselor and Director of Activities. From Washington, we went to Emmitsburg. One of the girls who had graduated from the Academy with Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub, invited Sr. Hildegarde and me to go to Emmitsburg. She was a Daughter of Charity. We stayed for a few days. That was my first visit to Emmitsburg, though I have had many since. From Altoona, I went to Sacred Heart for one year.
In 1941, I was read out on the mission list as going to Elizabeth Seton High School. It was just the second year for Elizabeth Seton, and Sister Regina Clare Breigg was already the Principal and English teacher. So, immediately after the mission list was read, I met Sr. Regina Clare and said:"Regina, what in the world am I going to do at Elizabeth Seton since you are the English teacher?" She said: ''Now don't worry Mary Agnes. We don't need a regular English teacher. We don't need a regular Science teacher. We just need someone to teach Biology." That summer, I took my required Science work...Micro-Biology, which was taught by Sister Muriel Flamman. I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and apparently talked about it too much at the lunch table, which was with Sr. Regina Clare. That was the beginning of twelve years at Elizabeth Seton High School. Sister Regina Clare was at Seton for the usual six year period of time. Every once in a while I would ask her if I had achieved "regular teacher status." In time, we did get a regular science teacher in the person of Sister Jane McNulty, a former student of mine at Sacred Heart.
Elizabeth Seton High School was, as far as the Congregation is concerned, of great importance to the history of the Sisters of Charity. Through the efforts of the Parents Guild, we were able t0 pay off whatever the costs were to purchase and reconstruct the old school building, and further to plan for the construction of the buildings which are presently there. We were busy twelve months of the year with fund raising. I had been going to Catholic University in the summers to work on my Master's Degree. In fact my course work was finished. I just had my theses to do and had put it on hold. However, Mother Victoria Brown urged me on to finish this degree. She wanted sisters to achieve the highest degree possible. At any rate, they were great years at Elizabeth Seton....pioneering. We grew very close to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton during my time there. We had prayers and events to promote the canonization of Elizabeth Seton. One of the events having to do with Elizabeth Seton involved Father Lord again. He was a good friend of Monsignor Oliver Keefer. Father Lord was the national sodality leader. Monsignor Keefer was the diocesan sodality leader. The relationship between Father Lord and Monsignor Keefer struck me as being like father to son. Monsignor Keefer had been made pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Scott Township. Previous to his assignment to Our Lady of Grace, Monsignor Keefer had been teaching Religion at Elizabeth Seton. He had to stop teaching because his duties at Our Lady of Grace would not permit him to continue teaching. He had succeeded in getting Father Lord to come and give two or three evening talks at the parish. Father Lord accepted, on condition that he wouldn't be asked to do more as his health was failing. We learned about this the week before


Christmas. This must have been in 1952. I did indicate to Father Keefer that January fourth was one of the dates scheduled for Father Lord's talks. Upon arrival at the rectory at Our Lady of Grace, Father Lord spotted on top of the file cabinet in Monsignor's office a framed picture of Elizabeth Seton, which we had given him when he no longer taught at Seton. When Father Lord saw it, he said: ''Now there's a lady who ought to be confirmed. Why doesn't the church give her the honors of the altar? She is a saint!" Father Keefer then asked Father Lord ifhe would want to help the cause along. That's how he trapped Father Lord into coming to Elizabeth Seton on the fourth of January. It was a lovely event...well attended. The parents also came. The students had prepared a program...a panel of speakers. That would have been January of 1954. (There was a section here about the event which was not audible. I tried.) The following week an article appeared in Father Lord's column which was carried by every diocesan paper throughout the country telling about his visit to Elizabeth Seton High School. I remember so well the column. I had the pleasure last week of visiting a school in Pittsburgh named for Elizabeth Seton and as would be expected the school was run by the Sisters of Charity who claim Elizabeth Seton as their Foundress.

SMCM: Sister, when were you the principal at Elizabeth Seton?
SMAS: I was principal at Elizabeth Seton from 1947-1954, which was the year I left Elizabeth Seton.

SMCM: Did you continue to teach Biology?
SMAS: No, that lasted for just two years when we got a regular science teacher. SMCM: How many students were there at Elizabeth Seton?
SMAS: The first year, there were seventy-seven girls. When I left, I know there were at least Four Hundred Twelve. I remember that the new auditorium was large enough to accommodate this number.

SMCM: What happened with you after 1954?
SMAS: Well again, I went back to Sacred Heart High School for one year. I had my sabbatical, I guess. I was there three times for one year. Sister Marion McKelvy was the principal. Also, I would like to say how much I loved the Liturgies at Sacred Heart.



SMCM: This is a continuation of the oral history being conducted on Sr. Mary Agnes Schildkamp at Assumption Hall. The date is February 18, 1988.
SMCM: Good afternoon, Sr. Mary Agnes. SMAS: Good afternoon, Sr. Marie Corona

SMCM: Sister, maybe you could go back and tell us a little more about your experience at St. Luke's High School in Carnegie.
SMAS: That would take us back then thirty some years. I went there in August of 1955, much to my surprise for five years. The beginning of those five years occurred after I had one year at


Sacred Heart High School. Previous to my one year at Sacred Heart I had been the Principal at Elizabeth Seton High School for twelve years. Sr. Mary Henry Hanse was ill, and I succeeded her as Principal of St. Luke's. St. Luke's was an excellent high school. We had students there from different parishes. Students went on to many fields of life from St. Luke's...doctors, lawyers, teachers, members of the Community, etc. One of the kinds of incidents that will remain in my memory is that of Father James Shanahan. Immediately after his Ordination in 1956, he was assigned as an assistant priest at St. Luke's. He was asked by Father James Kernan who was the Pastor to interest himself in the high school. He did this. He had a wonderful influence on the students. This influence was somewhat missionary related. You can understand this when I tell you that Father Shanahan went to the Pittsburgh Diocesan Mission in Chimbote, Peru from St.
Luke's. I remember so well the farewell celebration that we had for him at St. Luke's. The building was a one-story, four-sided structure. Our students called it "The Cardboard Jungle", but would have big fights with anyone else who would call it such a name. Within those four walls were what is called the "Court." The celebration took place here. Johnny Geinser, who is now Father John Geinser,one of the spiritual directors at Mt. St. Mary's in Maryland, officiated at the celebration. He was president of the student council and he pretended to be Father Shanahan somewhere far off in the mountains of Peru calling to request a list of items. One of the girls, Mary Endy, who studied Spanish as part of the Business Course she was taking was the telephone operator, somewhere between Peru and St. Luke's. She was trying to relay between Spanish and English, Father Shanahan's needs. The jumble between Spanish and English was hilarious! I'm sorry now that this was at a time before you could record things. I feel that Father Shanahan became a martyr as a result of his being at St. Luke's and going to Peru from there. He has been dead about ten years now. He contracted Hepatitis in Peru, which led to Cancer and to his death which took place at Our Lady Of Loreto in Brookline, only about ten years after his ordination. I believe he died before the age of fifty.
I loved those years at St. Luke's.

SMCM: Were you a teaching principal, Sister?
SMAS: Oh yes. I believe it is safe to say that every year up until now, when I retired from teaching English at Greensburg Central, I taught at least one class. I have always made it a point to know my graduates at St. Luke's and at Elizabeth Seton High School. Therefore, I taught English to the students. Later, when I became Director of Project Forward, I still taught young men and women who were studying for their GED. The atmosphere was a little different, as it took place in the local prison.

SMAS: What else do you wish me to tell you?
SMCM: I would like to hear about the closing of St. Luke's High School.

SMAS: I was not the last principal at St. Luke's in Carnegie when it closed. I told you at the beginning of the interview that at the time I left St. Luke's, it was one of the two times in my community life when I felt that I was mugged! My mission was changed, much to my surprise at the end of July. I'll tell you how it happened. Apparently the Council was considering a change in principal at St. Pancratius in Lakewood, California. Sister Mary Amy Connelly had been ill.


How my name came up, I still can't even guess. At any rate, St. Luke's still had two years to go. Freshmen had already been sent to the new Canevan High School. Sophomores went my last year at St. Luke's. There were still Juniors and Seniors left to go. That would have been nineteen hundred sixty. In July of 1960, Sister Teresa Clare Kernan, who was on the Council and in charge of Education sent for me. Mother Claudia Glenn was in the hospital. Sister Teresa Clare said: "I think you ought to talk to Sister Theodosia Murtha about your mission." There had been a meeting of the teaching sisters in the Visual Education Room that day, and I was pretty strong in advising a plan that we were preparing for in the diocese of Pittsburgh. I believe this is what stirred Sister Theodosia ab.d Sister Teresa Clare to think of me as the new principal for St.
Pancratius. Then Sister Theodosia sent for me. My mother had died, and my father was living alone. This is the way Sister Theodosia put it to me. "Sister Mary Agnes, do you think your father would mind if you were sent to St. Pancratius in Lakewood, California?" I could speak for myself but not for my father. I remember his response so well. He said: "Well, I've often wondered if those platinum blondes in Hollywood are genuine or not. So, sure! You go to California and I'll come out to check it out." It happened though that he did not come out to check the genuineness of the platinum blondes in Hollywood. I was in California just a few months when my father died unexpectedly. That was on January 4, 1961. While I'm on the subject, I was already on my way to Pittsburgh, as-I had a flight from California to Pittsburgh. It was a cold, blustery, winter day. I didn't make it before my father died. He died at eleven o'clock in the morning on January 4, 1961. At eight o'clock in the morning in California, which is eleven o'clock in Pittsburgh, Father Kelty, the Pastor, offered Mass for my father. My family were all satisfied with this, even though we were not present when he died. He was remembered in prayer at that same hour.
Returning now to the closing of St. Luke's as you requested. One year at a time, the student body
at St. Luke's was reduced by a Freshmen class, and one year at a time, Canevan High School was established. Of personal importance to me was the Sister, who was like the Co-Principal, in charge of the girls. That was Sister Julia Teresa Dolan. Sister Julia Teresa and I entered together. We had been at Catholic University together and also on the same missions a number of times.
Sister Mary Bernard O'Brien completed the last two years as Principal at St. Luke's. She had previously been principal for a number of years. I'm not sure what years. However, I can't think of anyone who was more suited for this task than Sr. Mary Bernard. St. Luke's was dear to her. She gave the students the warmth and interest which had been given in previous years. These last two years of St. Luke's might be referred to as the "lame duck" years.

SMCM: Sister, when St. Luke's High School closed, did we still have sisters living in St. Luke's Convent who taught at Canevan?
SMAS: Oh yes. I don't remember.who they were, other than Sister Julia Teresa. The Mission list would give you this information. Those sisters lived at St. Luke's Convent and commuted to Canevan High School.

SMCM: Sister, what did you tell me happened to the building when St. Luke's closed? SMAS: I told you that the students called it "The Cardboard Jungle." I don't really know. It could have blown down for all I know. I understand that Sister Sabina McGinley, who was


principal of the grade school wanted to use some of the rooms for her eighth graders. She had made this request even in my time there. However, we were never able to come to an agreement on this. There is a rather comical story I can tell you about this if you want to take the time to hear it. The photographer who took our year book pictures at St. Luke's presented me with not just an eight and a half by ten picture of myself, but one hundred wallet size pictures of myself. At any rate, I said to Sister Sabina: "We'll let your eighth graders use some rooms at the High School, if you will accept ninety-nine pictures ofme." She turned me down. I'm also relatively sure that they didn't use any of the rooms during Sr. Mary Bernard O'Brien's stay there.

SMCM: I know that you were the principal at St. Pancratius in Lakewood, California, but I also heard that St. Pancratius was like a hospitality stop, especially for our Korean Sisters around the time of the opening of our Korean Mission in nineteen hundred sixty. Could you tell us about this?
SMAS: Yes, the first two contingents of sisters who went to Korea went by Freighter out of San Francisco. They had to do that, not because it was less expensive, but because they had to take everything they needed for personal belongings, household items, things needed for their school, etc. I mean this involved big pieces of equipment. The Sisters were not sure when they would depart from San Francisco. The Columban Fathers in San Francisco were co-ordinating their journey. It wasn't just the Korean Sisters who would be going on the same Freighter. There were other groups. Also, the weather had something to do with it. The Sisters came to St. Pancratius around September of 1960. They did not depart for Korea until some time in October. There was the additional problem they had of getting to San Francisco, which was five hundred miles or more from Lakewood, California. It's like another state. In my mind, San Francisco reminded me of Pittsburgh, about which I can't get too enthusiastic, except at night when it's lighted up. Mrs. McGaffin, who was secretary of the High School was very helpful to us in traveling to San Francisco, as she knew her way all around California. Obviously I was not, but I was free to accompany the sisters. We drove up to San Francisco, and spent a week there, waiting for the green light to go on the Freighter, but also Sister Mary Agnes Carey, who was in charge of the Korean Mission had saved several big items to purchase in San Francisco. When I say saved, it was so that they didn't have to be transported across the state. As it was, there were numerous crates of supplies for our mission in Korea, for either the school or the house, that had been sent across the country and put into crates to be carried in the Freighter to Korea I remember one of these items was what we call a copy machine. We spent the week that we stayed with the Franciscan Missionary Sisters in San Francisco buying those items. We stayed with these Sisters at the fifth level, which was the top level of the structure overlooking San Francisco. The Sisters were welcoming and cordial. None ofus knew San Francisco, and so each ofus daily went down into the city to do the shopping which was necessary. The pioneers were: Sr. Mary Agnes Carey, Sr. Mary Noreen Lacey, Sr. Martin d, e Porres(left the community years later) and Sr. Alice Ruane. We had good directions...names of businesses, locations, etc., but we had to do a good bit of it on our own. Each time we stopped for directions or for lunch, we were picked up by someone whose
name happened to be Irish. What I thought was the payoff, but it wasn't, there was another occurrence later, was a time when we were looking for a: building named McKenna. We had come to an area which came to a point, much like our Sixth and Fifth Avenue triangle in


Pittsburgh. A policeman on a motorcycle pulled over to the curb, and one of us said, one of us should ask him. I'm the one who had to step forward and ask him about this building. Well, the others could hear his response, so clear and enthusiastic was his accent. He must recently have come from Ireland. He got off his motorcycle, put his arm around my shoulder and said in his very Irish brogue: "I'll show you." He walked us up partway to the triangle and down the other side. The other Sisters followed, almost.hysterically. At any rate, I thought that would be the peak of our nationality encounter there, but it wasn't. The Sisters who were going to Korea had to stay on the Freighter "The Golden Bear" over night, the night before they were to leave. There was a dinner provided for them, to which they could invite guests. So, I and can't exactly remember who it was went to this dinner. I know it wasn't Mrs. McGaffin, the woman from St. Pancratius, who so graciously was giving her time and energy to help us with this project.
Nevertheless, we arranged to meet at St. Patrick' s Church, which was located near the pier, the next morning for the seven o'clock Mass. This we did. When we got inside the church, we saw five beautiful stained glass windows. They were marked: Matthew, Mark, Patrick, Luke, and John. I said to the Sisters: "There isn't another nationality that would split up the four Evangelists." It was the real payoffi Some years later Sr. Miriam Joseph and Sr. Paulina Glenn were in San Francisco. I had told them this story. They went down to check out St. Patrick's Church. I still have the note which they sent to me verifying "Matthew, Mark, Patrick, Luke and John being on the five, life sized windows in the church." They also enclosed a copy of the Sunday bulletin, which had been printed in green.
Helping the Sisters travel .from Lakewood, California to San Francisco happened twice. The first time was in nineteen hundred sixty and the second in nineteen hundred sixty-two. As in the first · time, we were in San Francisco a week prior to the sisters leaving for Korea. Sister Jeanne Malloy( at this time Sr. Jeanne's name was Sr. Emmanuel)
and Sister Jeremy Mahla were the sisters in the second group which went to Korea. Sister Catherine Mary Malloy, Sister of Sister Jeanne Malloy stayed with us at St. Pancratius and was able therefore to see her Sister off to Korea from San Francisco. Sr. Catherine Mary was stationed at the time in Arizona, which probably made it more possible to do this. These two
experiences...seeing the Sisters off to Korea were the closest I ever got to Korea at the time. I was one of the two hundred who had volunteered to go to Korea.

SMCM: Would you like now to tell about your time at Greensburg Central?
SMAS: Before I do, I think it would be worthy of note for the history of the Community to point out that St. Pancratius was a welcoming place not just for the Sisters who were going to Korea, but for anyone who would like to come and see the many interesting sites. In fact, the layout of the convent was such that provisions were made for people to stay at the convent while enjoying their stay in Lakewood. There was a suite of rooms near the front entrance. That doesn't mean it was public. Without entering the convent area, there was room for visitors to stay. That particular feature was added to the convent at St. Therese's in Phoenix, Arizona. Sister Marian Grace's parents came and stayed on occasion. Sister M. Ethelreda Merz, Sister Helen Marie Haley, and I were delighted , being drivers to go back over and over to "Disney Land" and other points of interest. As far as "Disney Land" goes, the father of one of our students at St. Pancratius was an executive there, so we used his gift to us freely and frequently.


SMCM: Did you ever take the children to "Disney Land?"
SMAS: No. There wouldn't be any need to do this as the children have already been there. They could tell us about "Disney Land."
St. Pancratius was a young parish. It was opened in nineteen fifty-four. The Sisters who were the first to go there...Sister Macaria Nestor, Sister Mary Amy Connelly, and I'm not sure of the others
, lived in a little house, which I believe has been occupied by the Keane Family, the family whose father Bill Keane writes the Family Circus, the Cartoon which is in the Sunday newspaper. They probably lived there after the sisters moved out and into the newly built convent. I went to St.
Pancratius in nineteen sixty. So, we were doing things for the first time. I can remember being invited to Baptisms, which I hadn't been to for years, not even in my own family. We were doing things for the first time with Father Kelty, the Pastor. Every Sunday morning, the year round without exception, after the six thirty AM Mass, the men of the parish served coffee, do-nuts, rolls and milk for the children. Whole families went to this early Mass. From there, they could go to the beach or mountain, etc. The men, with no women around, would have Fund Raisers for the athletic programs for both boys and girls. We had good athletic programs.

SMCM: Was it a large school, Sister?
SMAS: When I was there, the enrollment was nine hundred. There were eleven Sisters. Sister Barbara Coyle was there and she was a great help. I remember Sisters Carita Shields and Eileen Johnson each had about sixty children in their first grades. When I became weary or overwhelmed, I used to go and sit in the back of the first grade to cheer myself up. I didn't teach regularly. I ventured teaching English Composition from eighth, seventh,
sixth, fifth, fourth, and third grades. I don't think I went lower than the third grade. SMCM: Sister, would you like to tell us anything about the Beatification trip to Rome?
It was in 1963 that the Sisters were elected to go to the Beatification of Elizabeth Seton. We traveled in pairs. My partner was Sister Vincent de Paul Kramer. We were in Rome for eight days. There was a side trip offered which would have taken us to some of the other countries. Sister Vincent de Paul and I chose to stay in Rome, one of the reasons being that there was a triduum of Masses which were traditionally offered following the beatification of a saint. These Masses were celebrated at different churches in the area. I remember one was celebrated at St. Paul's outside the walls. The speakers were all excellent. One in particular I remember was Monsignor John Middleton. He was the pastor at St. Peter's church on Barclay Street in New York. Monsignor Middleton and the priest homilist at the second one of these Masses were excellent. The third one (couldn't hear him) was alright, but couldn't measure up to the first two. It was March when we were there. One of the evenings, Cardinal Spellman had invited all ofus to a celebration. It was teeming rain and very dark outside. The buses were lined up in the street to take us back to our hotel. The name of our hotel was the "Ritz." Well as miserable as things were, a funny thing did happen. A Sister who was a Daughter of Charity rapped on the bus door. It was during the time when the sisters wore the big, white wings. Hers of course at this point were quite droopy. The bus driver opened the door and announced that it was the bus going to our hotel...the Ritz. When he said this, she responded: "And I'm Queen Victoria!" The Beatification


ceremony itself was unforgettable. I do have about seven minutes of moving pictures taken during our eight days in Rome. The film was given to me by one of the parents at St. Pancratius. When I returned he ( the parent) spliced and edited the film. This material will be handed into the Archives at Caritas Christi, when I'm ready to give it up. I had taken a picture of Pope John XXIII, before finding the sign advising that no cameras were allowed at this particular area.
This was in 1963. When I came back, I was elected to the Council. My position·at St. Pancratius had been terminated.

SMCM: You were on the council for how long, Sister?

SMAS: Six years. I was on the Council from 1963-1969 with Mother Victoria Brown. Sister Theodosia Murtha was Assistant. I was Secretary. Sr. Theodosia resigned sometime during those six years, and Sister Richard Ann Watson was elected by the Council to take her place. Sister Anne Michaele Reilly was the Community Treasurer. Sister Alberta Sweeney, my dear friend was also on the Council. Sr. Alberta was my first grade teacher.

SMCM: Were there any significant changes in the Community during your term on the Council? SMAS: Oh my goodness, yes. They were Post Vatican Council years. This part of the tape is very inaudible! I have tried many times to distinguish what Sister Mary Agnes is saying, but cannot. She does say that there were prominent people such as : Bishop Wright, Bishop Connare, and Archabbot Weakland who addressed the Community as to what Vatican Council II meant to the Sisters of Charity. Again, Sister refers to the special contribution for the Proper of the Mass for Elizabeth Ann Seton, which was composed by Archabbot Weakland. This took place in 1966. At that time, it was the beginning of small group discussions. We had many small groups set up in Sullivan Hall, in Maura Hall, etc.

SMCM: Was there anything else you would like to say about your six years on the Council? SMAS: Well, there was one new mission. I believe Sister said that it was Holy Trinity up in North Huntington. I remember so well the Pastor (couldn't get his name) coming and asking for sisters, not to teach in the school, but to do CCD work. It wasn't done in the usual CCD manner that we were accustomed. It involved home visiting, adult education, and regular CCD classes. We weren't sure what sisters we had who were trained for this kind of work. During those six years, I participated in teaching CCD on Saturdays and Sundays at Sutersville. We talked a number of times about who would be prepared for this ministry. Sister Helen Cecilia Dwyer's name came up as sister had done quite a bit regarding CCD teaching. Sr. Helen Cecilia was a concert pianist. I heard her play the piano very artistically. However, due to having arthritis severely, she was no longer able to do this. At this time, she was teaching History at Holy Innocents High School in Pittsburgh. When I suggested Sr. Helen Cecilia's name to Mother Victoria, she expressed doubt as to whether Sister would want to consider this position, but gave. me permission to talk to Sister. Sister Helen Cecilia so graciously said:" I'd be happy to go wherever I'm sent on mission." I could hardly wait to get back to Seton Hill to report Sister's response. Here, Sister says there were other sisters, but she can't recall their names. (I believe that two of these people may have been...Sister M. Francina Skergan, and Sister M. Eugene


O'Donnell.) The program went well. The people in the parish were delighted with the sisters' presence, teaching, and home visiting. Juniata College was there on campus. It is a sectarian college. I went up to Huntingdon for at least two summers for a week's vacation. At the time, the county fair was going on. It was most enjoyable and included all religions. I can't tell you how much they enjoyed and appreciated the sisters.

SMCM: Were those sisters in residence in Altoona?
SMAS: No, Father had a residence for them there. I also recall that Sister M. Jane Joyce was there as one the pioneers.
SMCM: How many years was that mission opened?
SMAS: I'm not really sure, but would take a guess at about ten. The priest who was the pastor was transferred to Johnstown but returned as pastor. He has very warm memories of the Sisters of Charity. There were occasions when he came to Greensburg, such as on festival days and always made it a point to visit at Assumption Hall where Sister Helen Cecilia and Sister Jane were living.

SMCM: What happened after your years on the Council?

SMAS: Project Forward was open. Sister Clare Handerhand ( no longer in the Community) started Project Forward in 1967. In 1968, she was responsible for being the director of Project and in charge of the Admissions Office at Seton Hill. She had interrupted her studies for her PHD in order to take care of these two positions. She received permission in 1969 to return to Catholic University in Washington, DC to complete her doctorate. I was asked to take over Project Forward, which lasted for about eleven years.
SMCM: Sister, what exactly was involved in doing this job?
SMAS: It's pretty hard to say exactly what I did. I have the history of Project Forward in the file drawer here. Project Forward was funded in the same act of Congress, which in 1965 gave birth for grants and loans for students who needed financial help to further their education beyond high school. The program called "Talent Search" was inserted in that act of Congress as the channel to locate students who would otherwise be missed in other channels. They might be missed because of low income, population, etc. Whatever the reason, we were commissioned to find them. We traveled around doing so. We went to high schools where some of the aforementioned problems existed. Very often we visited homes. People were intimidated by the word "loan." The last thing they needed was another debt. It got us involved in community action. We had six branches. Out of Brownsville, PA, we served three counties, and out of Greensburg, we served three counties. I was involved about twice a year in meetings with personnel from other areas and always came back inspired by the zeal and sacrifices of other project directors. I was the only Sister involved in the program.

SMCM: And these were Seton Hill students?
SMAS: Oh no, that's one of the altruistic aspects of Project Forward. To the credit of Seton Hill College and the Sisters of Charity, the property which had been St. Philomena's Shrine was , donated for the project forward program. Right now, I'm not sure of the legal status of the office.


Who exactly owns this, as I said, I'm not sure. I believe it was incorporated into the nineteen ninety-nine lease which the board of the Sisters of Charity lease to the board of Seton Hill College. I know that the roof on the. property is badly in need of repair, so we may be able to determine the ownership by whoever pays that bill.· Funding is always a tight situation. It was particularly tight when I took over as Director. The program was begun in 1967, and there has really been very little turnover in Administration. I believe Sister Mary Agnes said that between sixteen and eighteen hundred students had been serviced each year. Right now, our funding is affected globally because of lay offs, etc. It was in the Spring of 1980 that I was changed and Sister Mary Philip Aaron took over as Director of Project Forward.

SMCM: Was it possible for any teacher in the College to get help for someone?
SMAS: Oh, yes. They are given the information needed to apply for help if they are eligible.

SMCM: Sister, did you record all the work at Project Forward? SMAS: Yes, I kept a record each year.




SMAS: Sister Marie Corona, I have several significant reasons for mentioning the "Eucharistic Congress" in 1976. It was the Bicentennial Year as you know, and therefore the city of Philadelphia was full of patriotic as well as religious climate would be the word to use. For those reasons, there must have been seven, eight, or possibly nine who went as a group from Seton Hill, and we stayed at the homes of two of the Dolan family. That is Sister Julia Teresa Dolan's family. One of her brothers settled there some years ago, and about four ofus stayed with Al and Betty Dolan. The others stayed in the home of their daughter, Mary. Mary and her husband and five children had gone to the shore that week. They permitted us to use their home. These homes were close to the railroad station, which made it convenient for us to go to downtown, Philadelphia. Another reason for remembering this is because of a group of Sisters which I spoke about previously and had interviewed in Lakewood, California. There were forty-eight of them in the community at that time. The entire group came by bus all the way across the country for the Eucharistic Congress. The bus was a gift, as was the driver. When they stopped for fuel, they used a credit card, which was also a gift, which gives you some idea of the esteem in which they were held by the Archdiocese of LosAngeles. This group of Sisters were Hungarian. The translation of the name of their Community is: "Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart." They were founded in the nineteen forties in Budapest. They were University women who devoted themselves, their time, energy etc., to religious education. There are many schools in Europe like our own. Not only did they teach, they prepared the materials which they used...albums, books, pictures, etcetera. They printed them professionally. They did this in Budapest. However, not too long after they were organized, Hungary was taken over by the Soviet Union. They had to go underground. Before doing this, they agreed to scatter before they met possibly in a year's time in Holland. There was no set date, but the group waited until all thirteen (I believe that was the number they started out as) met. They spent that year trying to help ministers, clergy, catholic and


non-catholics to escape. The primary price was on the Sisters' heads. They were the main target. Eventually, the group did arrive in Holland and there they did many kinds ofwork...store clerks, cleaning, etc. to earn enough money to take them further. They managed to get to England, where again they did odd jobs to earn money. When they earned enough money, they managed to get themselves over to Canada. In Canada, which was more catholic than any of the places they had been, they set up a printing press. They printed church bulletins, church programs and any other odd printing jobs they could. In the meantime, they had their "ears open" for a diocese in the United States that would be willing to adopt them. This didn't take long. Cardinal McIntyre in Los Angeles welcomed them to the archdiocese and gave them a house to live in. Now, there must be fifty or sixty of them, are in charge of Religious Education in the archdiocese. They still produce tapes and albums, work with films, are on television, etc. During the summer months when they are not involved in teaching, they conduct retreats for boys and their families. There is a wonderful resort in "Bear Rocks" with several cottages. It's in Benadali California....wonderful place to escape the heat. I was privileged in 1987, when I was on my way to Japan and Korea to stay there with the sisters. It luckily was a break between two family retreats. Twenty-five of the sisters were getting ready to take care of ninety-five people who were coming to make retreat. Everything is beautifully organized. In the forty some years since they were founded, they have not lost one. sister by death.

SMCM: What was your original connection with these sisters?
SMAS: When I first went to St. Pancratius in Lakewood, California, it just happened that these sisters taught the teachers of religious education, which we know as CCD. They had instruction centers in various parts of the archdiocese. St. Pancratius was the center for the whole Long Beach area.
Now, I'm going back to the Eucharistic Congress. These Sisters, the entire community, who had come via bus across the country had not written ahead for hospitality. They asked if there was a motherhouse in Philadelphia where they could stay. They brought their sleeping bags with them, not expecting this. What they particularly wanted to do was take one of the Eucharistic Congress days to go to Emmitsburg, and also possibly see some of Washington, D.C. I had written to Sr. Mary Donald Cusick in Bethesda and asked if the sisters could sleep in the classrooms over night. They had brought their sleeping bags. Well, you know Sr. Mary Donald's capacity for hospitality. She had organized the mothers to provide dinner. When we arrived in the evening, after attending a day at the Eucharistic Congress, there was a supper buffet. To show their appreciation and thanks for the sisters, the young sisters just sang songs to the sisters in Bethesda. We sat out on the Patio there enjoying each other's company. After that, the sisters took turns coming to the convent to shower before returning to the school that night to sleep. The next morning we were there for breakfast, and of course the sisters had good appetites. Sister Mary Donald had provided a tasty spread for us. Then we spent an enjoyable day in Emmitsburg, returning to Bethesda for the night. The next day we toured Washington, planning to stay for an hour or two, then going on to Philadelphia to continue participation in the Eucharistic Congress. Sister Mary Donald and Sister Mary Denise Dietrich had mapped out possible places for us to see in such a short time.

SMCM: Sister, do you want to tell us anything in particular about your time at Greensburg


Central?
SMAS: I don't think there's anything very exciting to tell you about that. I know that I had come to the end of eleven years at "Project Forward." In 1979, we at Project Forward had to get to work on a new three year proposal. We used to have to write a new one every year, but I think this was the second time we were going to write up a proposal lasting three years, if the money held out that long. I had in my mind at that time that if the Community had any other thing for me to do, this would be a time for me to indicate my willingness to do it. This was in the Fall of 1979, and I didn't hear anything. Then in the Spring of 1980, Sister Baptista Madden contacted me to say that there was another sister interested in the work at Project Forward. That was Sister Mary Philip Aaron , who I believe was at Seton La Salle High School at the time. She has a real gift for the type of work done at Project Forward and now in the Financial Aid Office at Seton Hill. I agreed of course that Sister Mary Philip should take over. In the meantime, I was interviewed by Sister Patrice Hughes informally some place in Jeannette. She hired me to teach English at Greensburg Central. I found myself missioned to Greensburg Faculty as a full time English teacher. That was five periods a day for five years. After that, I reduced it to four, and then my last year there, I decided that three was enough. That would have been 1986-1987. ( I couldn't understand what Sister was saying for a few lines after the above.)-

SMCM: Sister, besides your teaching, you were actively involved in prison ministry. Would you like to tell us about it?
SMAS: Chronologically, I did this before teaching at Greensburg Central. I don't recall exactly how it got started. I do know, I guess, and this would have been 1970, there was the prison quite near and quite large, down on Route 119 as you go toward Youngwood, but closer to Greensburg. I was alone at first. At that time, there was one section which was intended to be for Juveniles. In this particular section at that time, there were four women confined there temporarily until their sentencing came through, whatever that process is. I had known the matron there for some time. She and her husband were parishioners at Our Lady of Grace. I can't remember their names at this time, but it may come to me. Our paths had crossed at some point. She called Project Forward and asked if there could be anything done for these women during this time of waiting. They're going to be here three or four months. Perhaps they could get a little bit of educational instruction, so that this time wouldn't be lost.

SMCM: So you were at Project Forward at this time.
SMAS: Oh yes, I went to Project Forward in 1969 and was there until 1980. So, I went down to the prison to interview the four women. They were all in one room. The Matron was there. I explained to the four women the advantages of having a high school certificate. I soon discovered how naive I was. The first woman kept saying: "I can't do that. I have too much on my mind." I learned later that she was there for committing a murder. The second woman said: "This isn't what I need. I need to brush up on shorthand and typing." I was beginning to awaken to needs other than the ones I was pedaling. The third one really surprised me. What I want are voice lessons. Right away Mrs. Sclerbee ( what it sounds like) spoke up and said: "That's right, Sister. Ifwe didn't have Audrey for the campus service in the morning and the interdenominational service in the afternoon there wouldn't be anything. She has a beautiful voice." The fourth


woman just sat there and said nothing as she was just going to be there two or three weeks. When I said I would see what I could do about the woman needing shorthand and typing, and the one who wanted voice lessons, the woman who said that she had too much on her mind spoke up and said: "If you really want to know what I want, it's piano lessons." I said: "I'll see what I can do about that." For the piano, I have a niece who had Polio from birth. She used a cane and had braces, but she could drive. She was a senior at Greensburg Central. She too had piano lessons from Sister Mary Eleanor Frederick. I think I went to a piano recital for ten years. Sr. Mary Eleanor had her recitals at Seton Hill. So I thought Shannon (what it sounds like), would be happy to teach the piano lessons. As it turned out, her parents told me it was a great thing for Shannon because it being her senior year, thoughts were on prom, car, cabaret, party, etc. Some of this she could be part of, but popular as she was, she couldn' t be part of all of it. The typing and shorthand was taken care ofby Sister Margaret Louise Callahan. The girl didn' t have any shorthand, so it turned out to be typing only. Sister Helen Muha arranged for the voice lessons to be taught. One of her senior students who had just such a desire taught the voice lessons. We had three noisy courses being taught in the same room, which happened to be the chapel. So, we had a piano, a typewriter, and voice lessons going on at the same time. After so many lessons, the girl who taught voice took the group elsewhere and had them all singing. What this did to me, and I've thought of it many times, it showed me that these people who we think are down, deprived, disadvantaged, all of those words. That is not so. The Fine Arts are in everybody's life, whether you study cultures from Adam and Eve on down to the present, or whether you study the Fine Arts yourself, or you find someone who excels, all ofus can do or can enjoy. do enjoy. The Fine Arts are not a luxury. They' re part of our human system. You don' t just get gifts of bread and butter. You get dessert too! At any rate, one of the times I was down there because of these women, I was at the "control", which is what you have to go through to get in, when Father Gurl, a T.O.R. from Loretto came. He was stationed, I believe at St. Agnes in Pittsburgh. He was a large, booming man. When he saw me, he said: "Sister, what in the world can you do about getting some singing into our Sunday morning liturgies? Can you get some sisters to come down here?" That's how it started. I think that was in 1970 or 1971.

SMCM: Then, was that your first contact with men in the prison ministry? SMAS: No, that was my first contact with the Sunday morning liturgies.

SMCM: This is a continuation of the oral history of Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp for the Archives at Caritas Christi. The interview is being conducted by Sr. Marie Corona Miller at Assumption Hall. The date is February 18, 1988.

SMAS: To return to prison. I'm not sure which of these events happened first when I met
Father Earl down at the prison asking if I could get someone down to the prison to sing at the Sunday morning liturgies, or when I had the interview with the four women, or when I started to teach the GED program. It all happened around the same time. We taught GED at the prison for I believe ten years. That would have been from 1970-1980. We taught in real Sister of Charity style. We had a departmental program in operation. We had five subjects. I remember that Sister Mary Zachary Endress and Sister Sister Edith Strong taught the Math, Sister Mary Leon, I,


Sr. Mary Agnes taught English and sometimes Social Studies, Sister Patrice Hughes taught there. I'm having a hard time remembering everyone and what they taught. Nevertheless, we did this two or three evenings a week. We had two groups of five sisters doing this on these evenings. In 1980, it happened probably providentially that because of the union, volunteers were not permitted to teach at the prison.. There was a paid GED teacher for the daytime, but volunteers were not permitted to be in the capacity of teaching. This eased the situation for me, as it was in 1980 that I was sent to Greensburg Central, and I didn' t feel able to handle both positions. This also worked out well for Sister Edith Strong who was asked to teach some evening classes at Seton Hill College. We were still welcome and still are as volunteer teachers, but we didn't belong. We did in fact continue to attend the Sunday morning liturgies and occasionally an evening service. Sister Mary Helen Meyer and her mother and I used to go to the Liturgy on Sunday mornings until more sisters came to Greensburg Central meaning that more drivers were needed. Sister Edie Strong still goes there for Liturgy on Sundays and on Thursday evenings when they have some sort of service (I couldn't make out what kind). Meantime, that prison has tripled in size and went from being a minimum to a whatever is in the middle is called. It is not a maximum facility. In 1972, Father Vincent Rocco, now deceased, was the Chairman for Justice and Peace. At that time, it was called human rights. Sister Dorothy Marie Quigley was a board member on this committee, as was I. Father Rocco is the one who dreamed up and carried out a program known as "Operation Outward Reach." It was a program for men who were in the last six months of their sentence who showed potential for the building trade specifically carpentry
and masonry. They started out in company houses in mining communities, like Father talks about
just coming from. The first ones I recall hearing about was "Smock" ( difficult to hear). Very few persons around here were familiar with this name. However, people bought all these houses for a song as they had been shorn up nicely, and the companies had gone bankrupt. This project is still being carried out. Recently, I went to a dedication of a senior citizen complex in New Kensington which had been rebuilt from the basement up in masonry and carpentry. These men do not do the electrical or plumbing. They do prepare the lines which will be used for these utilities. Every six months they give twenty men this opportunity for a six month period just before his sentence is up. They've had very few drop outs on the program. Their potential is studied of course before the men are selected for the program. They have the same program now up in the state prison in Huntingdon and as of the Fall of 1987, the state prison in Mercer. The same Board is responsible for all three. It's incorporated. Father Bundt (sounds like) is on that Board. He is the treasurer. lam also on the Board.

SMCM: Isn't it unusual that a priest was able to go into the prison, and start a program like this? SMAS: Yes. He was an unusual priest. I'm sure he was also in charge of a parish.

SMCM: Sister, about the GED program. Was there anything done with this program at the prison?
SMAS: Yes. Many of the men came ABE, which is adult basic education from third, fourth, and fifth grade reading levels. In the first months of their incarceration, they could work themselves up to the GED level. We of course prepared them for.the test. If they passed, they received a certificate from Harrisburg equivalent to a high school diploma. That's what GED means. These


certificates were something which they could stand up tall about.

SMCM: What were the ages of these prisoners?
SMAS: I would say that most of them were between the ages of eighteen and thirty. They were well behaved. We had a classroom on the second floor...no policeman protecting us or looking in on us. Most of the men were studious. The ones who weren't too interested in the course work were interested in receiving that piece of paper. The passing score was two hundred twenty five points. I won't explain all of that. We had points as high as three hundred thirty-five.

SMCM: How long did these courses have to be taught?
SMAS: Well, it seems to me that we taught them the year round. In the summertime, we taught during the daytime. They took the test when they were ready. The test was given rather frequently in the institution itself. Other persons on the outside, we had GED programs through Project Forward. Those people would take their test down at Community College. I couldn't hear what Sister said about meeting at the "Coffee House" next to Bethel. Church as the first meeting
place. Sister Helen Marie Haley and I taught these classes.

SMCM: Sister, do you want to speak about your time on the Justice and Peace Committee? SMAS: There again, you don't keep a record of when you were called.

SMCM: Who called you to be on this committee?
SMAS: I'm not sure whether it was Bishop Wiliiam G. Connare or Monsignor Norbert Gaughan, who was not yet bishop.

SMCM: How long did you hold this position? Also, where were you when you received this appointment?
SMAS: I was on this Committee for about five years. I was stationed at Greensburg Central at the time. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I can tell you a funny little story connected with this. A few months ago, before the end of 1987, I was talking to one of the priests at the Chancery Office. These appointments are for the calendar year. When I told this priest that I didn't have this· commission in writing, He said: "Sister, don't you know that these assignments go on forever?" I knew that. It involved going to Harrisburg, PA three times a year. My second appointment was going to run out by 1987. That part of the assignment I have in writing from Bishop Connare. It's a two year assignment. We knew by this time that Bishop Anthony Bosco was coming to replace Bishop Connare. (This part of the tape is confusing, and also somewhat contradictory.) At any rate, it lasted for about five years. Meantime, Father Rocco died, as I say without permission.
Another priest was assigned in his place. That priest after a few months accepted a teaching· position outside of the diocese. For about a year and a half nothing was done about it. Then I received a call asking if I would Chair the Committee. There were thirteen members on the Commission. We tried to have representation from the four counties which make up the diocese. We meet at least three times a year because there are two ofus Father Joel from St. Vincent's
and I. We have our meetings with the other members as soon as possible after these meetings so that whatever transpired there can be channeled into our commission. What the commission does


depends on what the emergency needs are at the diocesan level. Last year, and again this year, we're concentrating on adapting and studying the unsafe (sounds like), something about the Bishops on the economy. That sounds like it would be scholarly and dry and applied to a very small group of persons. That isn't so. The other night, we had what we call a brainstorming session at Greensburg Central. We meet at Central now because it is for convenient for people in the area. Bishop Bosco and four of the priests from the six deaneries attended this meeting.
Monsignor Schuda sent a wonderful letter giving some points which he wanted to make, but couldn' t come to the meeting. We just thrashed out some needs of the area which we could do something about, whether we did it or we got others to do it, or we asked the Bishop to do it. It was partly the second step for us. We as a Commission did a good bit of studying and thrashing about among ourselves the message that was in the Bishops Pastoral Letter. Several ofus had small group meetings. I had four or five of them. Father Sedlack had a series of meetings at the Cathedral. Up in Lower Burrell, at St. Margaret Mary' s, one of the layman on the commission had meetings. The next step was to look into local needs. Every need that came out in our discussions, as you would expect, was related to the Pastoral poverty, unemployment, farming,
whatever it happens to be. The purpose of our initial meeting was twofold. We wanted to discern the needs, and Bishop Bosco wanted to know what we do. He was new to the Diocese.

SMCM: Sister, how were the other twelve members of the Commission chosen?
SMAS: They were recommended . Then, it was the Bishop who sent them word as to whether or not they were chosen. Every diocese in the United States has a "Justice and Peace" Commission.

SMCM: So, you were responsible for having an increased number of people on this? SMAS: It was my suggestion because of people coming from different geographic distances.

SMCM: This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp. The interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at Greensburg Faculty House. The date is October 28, 1989. Sister, I'm glad we're able to get together again. This is our fifth tape. Our focus today will be on our beloved Foundress, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. You are known by our own sisters and many others to have a great dedication and devotion to Mother Seton. We would like for you to share with us your precious memories of how this great Saint has continued to be an inspiration to you as a Sister of Charity.

SMAS: Sister, this is going to be a story hour. Anything I know about Elizabeth Seton that happens to be in print, I'm going to omit. My first visit to Emittsburg, which was what sparked my devotion to Elizabeth Seton took place in the summer of 1938. I was teaching in Altoona at that time. Our principal was Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub. Bishop Guilfoyle wanted to have a sodality for both boys and girls from the eighth grade in Cathedral School. He had asked us to attend a class in Washington, DC, which was given by Father Lord, the priest in charge of catholic action. (I'm going to omit some ofthis as it hasalready been said on previous tapes.) Sister Hildegarde was a graduate of the Academy at Seton Hill. One of her classmates, whom I believe is deceased, was a Daughter of Charity. Sister Hildegarde arranged to go to Emmitsburg from


Washingon, DC to visit this friend. I, being a very young sister happily tagged along. I remember we stayed at least one overnight. I know that I was already in bed in one of the dormitories, when a dear little sister pulled my curtain aside, and, trying not to break night silence whispered to me: "Sister, when the bell rings at four thirty tomorrow morning, you don't have to get up. You can sleep until five thirty." I spent my time down there, simply roaming around. Sr. Hildegarde and her friend visited, leaving me lots of time to do this. That's my only recollection of that first visit. I'm going to move ahead until about twenty years later. In the meantime, I had been there on various occasions. In 1959, I was at Saint Luke's in Carnegie. One of the seniors, Diane Gates was dying from leukemia. In those days, leukemia was a shocking word. Apparently, there was nothing around to help this disease at that time. Diane did not graduate, but there was a highpoint in her life which I would like to emphasize, and would never forget. In the senior class play, which was written by Sister Cecilia Ward, Diane beautifully played the role of Elizabeth Ann Seton. We had everyone praying to Elizabeth Seton for Diane, including Diane herself It was a beautiful production. Diane didn't live very long. She enrolled in Duquesne University, but died in the middle of her first year. I still hear from Diane' s family. During the nineteen fifties, I don' t remember how the appointment happened, but there was a vocation committee comprised of sisters involved in part time vocation work: Sisters along the eastern coast of the United States were part of this, not just the Sisters of Charity, but also the Blessed Sacrament Sisters, and the Sisters of Mercy from Dobb's Ferry in New York. This was the community that Catherine Seton, Mother Seton's daughter belonged to. She entered at the age offourty-four. She had been living with her brother and acting pretty much like a hostess in his social affairs after his wife died. At any rate, she joined the Sisters of Mercy in New York. She was attracted to the community by their work in the prison...Sing Sing. I was able to procure, as a gift from the Archives of the Dobb's Ferry Sisters of Mercy charming stories about her work in the prison. She received a chest one time , after she was about eighty and retired, which was thought to be something to be given to the poor. However, when it was opened, it contained bars, (couldn' t determine) all the tools needed to commit burglary. There was a note on top telling sister that at last he had gone straight and wanted her to have these items to remember him by. There is another story about Sister Catherine Seton's death. She died at the age of ninety-one. Her nephew, Bishop Robert Seton, and her niece who also later entered this community came to see her. She said to them: "Darlings, you will never guess who came to see me last night." She went on to tell them that someone had come and stood at the foot of her bed. At frrst, she thought it was one of the sisters from her community. When I saw the profile and that she was wearing a cap on her head, I knew that it was my mother. I said to myself: "Of course, why wouldn't my mother come to see me when I'm sick? She did that when I was a child. She died that evening. I also have a book, for future reference, given to me by the Archivist, entitled "His Mercy Endures Forever" similar to the one written by Sister Electa Boyle, which contains information about the many things Sister Catherine Seton did. She was their frrst candidate and a member of the community for forty-five years. In 1963, when I was at St. Pancratius in California, it was my blessed privilege to go to Rome for the Beatification of Elizabeth Ann Seton. This was all arranged at Seton Hill. My companion was Sister Vincent de Paul Baker. Her good friend Sister Agnes Marie Reuben was in the group. Her companion was Sister Jean Wilburn, whom I had taught in grade school. {The next part of this tape recalling the event which all were invited by Cardinal Spellman has already


been recorded on another tape.) On January 4 1968, Mother Richard Ann Watson and I were again pleased to go to Emmitsburg to attend the transfer of Mother Seton's relic. It was the happiest funeral occasion that anyone would possibly experience. After her body had been exhumed before the Canonization, her relics were place in a bronze coffin, it was just a child's coffin, and for a while was placed above the altar in the college chapel. When the big building, which we know now as the Provincial House was completed, the coffin was transferred over to the huge shrine on January 4, 1968. It was snowy and icy, but was a pleasant day. The coffin was actually carried by four ofthe seminarians from Mt. St. Mary's. It was an impressive event. The Archbishop of Baltimore was present. The seminarians seemed to be thrilled to have the privilege of carrying Mother Seton's coffin. A couple of years later, through some vocation awareness arrangement, I was staying with a Daughter of Charity from Emmitsburg, who was Director of Vocations. I was part time Vocation Director. We visited a few of the schools there to discuss religious life and religious community, with the eighth grade girls, especially Mother Seton' s Community. I honestly don' t know the name of the school. There were three rooms of.every grade. Because of what the experience was that sister and I had, neither one ofus remember information about the school. We had pictures and films to show. I believe we had ready a very nice presentation. When we arrived at the school, the principal showed us the auditorium. It was quite large. I did say to the principal: "I know your teachers like to have a little time off once in a while, so it won't be necessary for them to attend the presentation with the students." Sister and I went to the auditorium and set up our p phernalia ·. Believe it! Believe it! The children, both boys and girls came in in silent lines, beginning with the first grade. Little first graders sat up in the front seats. There was a teacher with every contingent. They filled the auditorium. We were prepared for eighth grade girls only. We just muttered something to each other and quickly changed things. We showed some slides and pictures. The. children returned just as quietly to their classrooms. We knew it was a fizzle! We didn't even talk to each other as we gathered up our paraphernalia. We did stop in the office as a matter of courtesy. While w·e were there, there was a noise just outside the office door and in, I have to say, anteloped a tall young priest into the office. He said: "I hear there are some Mother Seton Sisters here. Believe me, when I hear there are any Mother Seton Sisters for the rest of my life, I want.to meet them, because I want them to know who I am." He was one of the four seminarians who had carried Mother Seton's coffin to her last resting place. Sister and I went away jubilant, forgetting all about the disappointment of our presentation. What he did, was something worth treasuring.
The next thing happened toward the middle of : Decemberin 1974. Monsignor Martin O'Toole
had died. He was the pastor of St. Leonard's in Monessen, PA.· He was very much loved. His · brother Anthony O'Toole had been our wonderful .c ustodian at Elizabeth Seton High School for years. At that time, we were anticipating the announcement from Pope Paul VI regarding the date for Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1975. We were breathless about it. I was at Seton Hill at the time.
Sister Helen Muha and the Music Department were getting ready for the Christmas concert. They planned on dedicating it to Elizabeth Seton . They also planned on having an announcement at Intermission about the date. There were also other celebrations. I was beginning to be concerned that we were making too much ofit. I don' t know why I was chosen to take care of this. We were told that we weren't to announce this, and that there was to be no news release until the Holy Father said it to those gathered in St. Peter's at his noon address. Noon means six o'clock in the


morning for us. Bishop Connare had already told us that he would alert us. There had been an alert set up on December fourteenth for this purpose. I called Monsignor Thomas Klinzing, Chancellor of the diocese and asked him what would be the appropriate way to celebrate the announcement about Elizabeth Seton. I planned this question very carefully, but regretted it later. However, a few days later, we were gathered at St. Leonard's in Monessen for the funeral of Monsignor Martin O'Toole. After the funeral, we were gathered in clusters in the parking lot.
Beside me was a group of priests, one of which was Monsignor Klinzing. I heard him say: "Sister Mary called (meaning me) and asked what the appropriate way would be to celebrate the announcement of Elizabeth Seton's Canonization?" And, I said to her: "Have a beer bust!" She then said: "May I please speak to Bishop Connare?" It just did not happen that way! When I returned to Seton Hill, I met Sister Mary Schmidt and said: "Oh, Sister Mary, you have quite a reputation." This was very confusing! Possibly Monsignor Klinzing thought he was speaking to Sister Mary Schmidt.
In 1975, 1976, and 1977, I was still in charge of Project Forward. One of the men who was in charge of Talent Search, the federal name for Project Forward, from way down in the mountains of Virginia, Jim P (couldn't make out the rest), and I became friendly. I was very much interested in his hobby. He had quite a business, collecting and selling old books. The name of his store was: "Bookworm and Silver Fish, Incorporated." He was curious about Elizabeth Seton. He would save Metropolitan, as well as diocesan papers containing stories about her life and canonization. I could always be certain that any time we met, we would get into discussions about Elizabeth Seton. He called himself a black protestant. He Was not black, but wanted me to know they he wasn' t catholic. He questioned about relics. He said: "Don' t you run out ofr esources?" He was serious and reverent about this. At any rate, he was impressed by what he read in the papers. Every once in a while I would receive an old book from him. I have Volume I and Volume II of what is called "The Story of the Mount." It was based on the Annals. It's a very gossipy kind of story and is the history of Mt. St. Mary's. He saw the Seton name on these books. Another time, he gave me a book about "The Hundredth Anniversary Book of St. Peter's Cathedral", a church then. It came out in 1934 commemorating the founding of that parish and the first school. He sent the book because in the middle of it is a full page picture of Elizabeth Seton. He knew she would have had something to do with it. Sure enough, "The Daughters of Charity" had the school. Sister Margaret George, whom we all know about, was the first principal. It's really a precious book, almost falling apart. The most impressive of the books that he sent there's reference January 6, 1804 or 1805, when Elizabeth Seton was almost despairing.
She was low with the decisions she had to make about becoming a catholic. She said that she took from the shelf a copy of "Bordeleau's Sermons". He was a French priest. She turned to the one for that feast...the Epiphany. There is a phrase in it that goes something like: "Oh you who have lost the star of Faith." Then it goes on to guide and console someone who would feel as
she did at that time. Jim, my friend would not have known about Bordoleau and certainly not the Epiphany. This was at the time when my niece and her husband in Baltimore were killed in a plane crash. It was 1979. It was terrible. We went down there. There were no remains. It was a wooded area cordoned off. It was in February. The weather was terrible...very cold. There was no funeral. No one knew what to say. They were the hardest three days I have ever spent. When we came back, we were still very low. Do you know that in my mail when I got home was a copy


of "Bordeleau?" That was providential, not just circumstantial.
In October of 1975, we were invited to St. Joseph's Parish in Dover, OH. Sister Maria Theda Hisrich is from that parish. People from there know about Seton Hill. Other than that, I'm not sure why we were invited. It had to do of course with the canonization of Mother Seton. It was just a month after.· The pastor was one of the Capuchins from Pittsburgh. We talked at the Masses, to parents, visited the school, etc. What matters is not these things, but the day we arrived and visited the church, our attention was just riveted on what would have been the Blessed Mother's Altar off to the side. ·There was a life size window image of Elizabeth Ann Seton so to speak, which was lighted. Down on the left, it read: "A saint is someone, and on the right that the light shines through." Father told us that as he made his rounds through the school before we arrived, he would ask in the different rooms...What is a saint? It was one of the children in first or second grade who said: "A saint is someone who the light shines through." The windows in the church were Franciscan saints. I'm sure the children were taught about these saints and probably toured the church. Therefore, it was natural for them to think that a saint is someone who the light shines through. It's certainly a perfect image. I've used it a number of times ever since.

I have in my hand a letter, dated September 15, 1975, which was addressed to Sr. M. Cornelia O' Friel; from the Saint Dismas Holy Name Society of Western Penn...the prison in Pittsburgh. The chaplain at that time was Father Earl Jennings, a T.O.R. from Loreto, Pennsylvania. Sister Cprnelia, I believe was the Administrator at Assumption Hall at the time. She's an Altoona
person. She proceeded to read the letter, which I feel sure we have the copy of, and therefore am not recording it here.

The weekend of Valentine's Day in 1976, chosen because it was the College Spring Break, eleven of us traveled in two cars on what we called "The Tin Cup" pilgrimage to New York. I called it this because we were traveling as inexpensively as possible. We stayed at my brother's home, which is in the upper part of New Jersey. I had arranged for him to be the leader. He and his wife, and I led the other two cars. We covered a lot of territory in those two days: Staten Island, St. Andrew's was there, several churches in Manhattan, and even got up to New Rochelle. I mentioned Staten Island where St. Andrew's church is, and it is the original church. Elizabeth Seton's grandfather was the pastor of St. Andrew's. We had not arranged previously with anyone at any of these places to be a tour guide. However, when we arrived at St. Andrew's, there was a funeral service going on in the cemetery. It so happened that the funeral was for a parishioner who had died and whose body was brought back for burial. We were just looking at the tombstones, waiting perhaps to see the priest. We·didn' t have to wait long. Father Sprieter ( if that's the correct spelling) came over to talk to us. He was one of the two U.S. Episcopal delegates at the canonization. Well, it was perfect! He was very familiar with the history of St. Andrew's church and especially of Mother Seton's mother's family, whose father had been the pastor at St. Andrew's. We noted in the church bulletin that during Lent, there would be a communion service two or three times a week. We mentioned to Father who already knew that for the monthly communion service at Trinity Episcopal, Mother Seton and her sister-in- law wouldn't miss it, and hurried then to attend another communion service at St. Paul's, which was a mission church of Trinity. Do you know what Father Sprieter's remark to this was? He said: Oh

23

yes, if Elizabeth Seton was living today, she would still be with us."

We took in on the visit (inaudible), which is much like Our Lady of Mercy church in downtown Pittsburgh. Again we had not planned on meeting anybody, but the pastor came into the church. He was interested in who we were. He went into the sacristy, put on his cassock and surplus and came out and we had a prayer service. Sister Barbara Smelko started us out singing "What Light Is This?" We hardly got through it with the tears that it brought to our eyes. It was so thrilling...unplanned. We went to Calvary Cemetery. There are four or five Calvary Cemeteries right along the edges of Long Island. We knew that Catherine Seton, Mother Seton's daughter and her grand niece were buried there. We did know that it was in "Calvary Cemetery," Number One. We had arranged to have someone direct us. Ifwe had just been on our own, it would have been hopeless to find it. We were directed to the plot. The Sisters of Mercy must have been scattered in that early time of the cemetery. There is a large cross there listing the names of the sisters, including Sister Catherine Seton, and also the grand niece whose name was also Sister Catherine Seton.

We went up to New Rochelle at a house where Elizabeth Seton's( Betty Bayley) uncle lived. The house is very fancy. It's quite a picturesque, historical site. It was then occupied by an elderly couple who owned it. Sister Edith Strong had written ahead noting that we knew it was her private home, but we would very much like to visit it. Sure enough, the lady did respond for us to come. The house is not the original. Two things are: One, the wine pantry above the wine cellar, the original pantry that her uncle Will Bayley had. Then in a couple of the rooms, like the living room, there were pictures. I don't know who in the family these persons were, but the husband's picture was in one room, and the wife's in the other. The woman who owned the house now said that perhaps they didn't talk much to each other We visited the local cemetery, the D.A.R.(sounds like). It was still Decoration Day, so we put a flag on Uncle Will Bayley's grave.

We also visitedTrinity Episcopal Church, which had been hers and St. Paul's mission chapel. I remember in St. Paul's mission chapel that there is a sign on the benches or kneelers which says: "George Washington worshiped here." It was a perfect weekend. We took a chance on both the weather and circumstances.

From here, we move to 1978, 1979, the first five years after the canonization. You might remember that the canonization prayer was on all the prayer cards and was used at the collect of the Mass for Mother Seton's canonization. The expression: "learn to express our love for God in service for our fellow men and women" was used. Quite a few ofus objected to this. In the first place, there was no prayer addressed to Elizabeth Seton either honoring her or about her.
Children for example aren't going to pray for service to our fellow men and women. It was too formal. Some of us mentioned it to Bishop Connare. He suggested that we get in touch with Father Taggert in Emittsburg, who was still the Vice Postulator. Father Taggert and Bishop Connare had met on an occasion in Emmitsburg, and they had discussed the need. Father Taggert wrote back to me and said that he felt the same way about the prayer. However, he said that at first he did approve of the prayer, the reason being that it did mention women. There was then a


revision made which read: "May we learn to express our love for you in love for one another." Bishop Connare did endorse this with a copy of his document indicating that the prayer could be used in the Diocese of Greensburg, signed "William G. Connare." Finally, it went to Archbishop Remberandt Weakland. He was the chairman for the Liturgy Committee for the United States Bishops. It was his suggestion that it came out as it did in the Sacramentary. Whatever way it stands right now came from Archbishop Weakland.

Then to Baltimore. This would have been in the l 970's. There was an unusual gentleman there by the name of John Simms. He wasn't a catholic. His profession had to do with silver, crystal, etc. He himself was quite a flamboyant man. Anyhow, John Simms lived about four houses up a side street from Mother Seton's house. That whole area has been declared a historical part.of Baltimore. It's referred to as: "The Seton Hill of Baltimore, although it is not very much of a hill. John Simms was interested in the story of Elizabeth Seton and in the renovation of her house.
He had money apparently. It was John who commissioned the lovely wood carved statue of Mother Seton to be in the basement chapel. He made the altar cloth which is used in the downstairs chapel. He wanted the best. There were other gifts that he made. He wanted things to be in keeping with the era....historically accurate. He never became a catholic. The nearest he could get was to be in the offertory procession when Father Sullivan, who had charge of Mother Seton's house at the time had Mass. John even went to Rome for the canonization of Mother Seton. His explanation was: "Well gee whiz, if one of your neighbors, four or five houses away is going to receive an honor like that, that's why I went!" John Simms is the one who is responsible for our having an enlargement of the portrait of Mother Seton, which she sat for in the house on Paca Street. He went to New York on occasion. He saw this portrait there in the archives and asked permission to take it clean it up...the glass, the portrait itself He had to make a couple of trips to make himself well known before it was finally entrusted to him. He received excellent references from Father John Sullivan, the Sulpician who had been in charge of Mother Seton's house. At any rate, that's how we happen to have that enlargement, including the latest, which was included on the prayer card. John Simms is dead. He was found dead, and I'm sure he received an unusual kind of welcome into eternity by Elizabeth Seton.

In July of 1981,Sister Sara Louise Reilly and I were asked or we volunteered to do collections for Korea in Indiana. We were there two weekends. We must have had four churches. In the intervening days, we found a map on which Sister Sara Louise discovered that we were a short distance from Vincenze. Vincenze is an old, old city which dates back to the days of Lewis and Clark. It's on the banks of the Wabash River. Sister Sara Louise had made an excellent connection with a gentleman who was an archivist for the college there. I didn't realize how historical the city was until we got there. The "Lilly.Fo undation" a few years ago, subsidized a separate building for Bishop Brute's books. You recall, he had an extensive library in France. He was a medical doctor besides being a theologian. In several contingents, you might say, his books were finally moved from France to Maryland. He became Bishop ofVincenze in 1834. He wanted, of course, to have his precious library there. That library I would say had over seven hundred volumes or more. It is located in an especially built, air-conditioned building by "The Lilly Pharmaceutical Foundation." Sister Sara Louise, as I said had made connections with an


archivist there in the education department of the college. The woman who was in charge of the library in the college was also very gracious. We were permitted to examine most of Bishop Brute's books...actually hold them in our hands. He had his name..S. Brute on the inside cover of most of his books. We had in our hands a bible, which belonged to him I guess, but was loaned to Mother Seton. She had notes in it. It went back to him after her death. I think that's how the exchange was made. There were cases on the main floor, which had cupboards containing his vestments, his crozier, portraits, etc. It was just a very thrilling return of Bishop Brute and Elizabeth Seton back in the Emmitsburg days. We loved it.

One of the most memorable, and I've had many pilgrimages to Emmitsburg, for was with Sister Margie Nolan (no longer in the community) and the young people in her special religious education program in Wheeling, WV. We had arranged for them to have two nights at Mount St. Mary's. They gave us a dormitory on the ground level. Among them there were seven or eight disabled persons. That may not sound like many, but seven or eight disabled people require about four or five caretakers. One was blind, who incidentally was a lector at her parish church. She read from Braille. There were two young men who had been injured in automobile accidents which left them partially paralyzed. The young man who was driving under the influence of alcohol, is somewhat crippled, and his speech is affected. He uses a cane. He travels around the country visiting schools speaking against the use of alcohol while driving. It is part of what has become the nationwide slogan. "Just say no!" Another girl was in a wheel chair. Each one had serious disabilities. We used the cafeteria in Mt. St. Mary's. If you've been down there, you know that it's a long trek, if you use a cane, crutches, and you need someone to guide you. We spent two days visiting the places in Emmitsburg. They were full of questions. The first night that we were there, tired and all, we had a film on Elizabeth Seton. They opened up the social room for us at Mt. St. Mary's. The second night, we had a question and answer session, which lasted well into the night. That was an especially memorable pilgrimage, and I've kept in touch with that group since. They absorbed, admired, and loved Elizabeth Seton.

Finally, I'm going to stop at this point. This year, 1989, Genevieve Blatt invited us to the fifteenth annual birthday party in honor of Elizabeth Seton at the end of August in Harrisburg. Genevieve Blatt, with her Mother Seton Club invited many young people whose name is Elizabeth Ann to come to the event. I'm not sure where she got the many young girls who attended. I went down there in 1979 ( I would presume) to Harrisburg with my niece, Beth Ann Johnson, as we know her. We have pictures of her taken there with Genevieve Blatt and with Bishop Hogan, Bishop of Altoona, who happened to be the Celebrant for the Mass for the occasion. One of the following years, Beth Ann's parents received a letter, inviting her again to the annual birthday party. Beth Ann's mother wrote to Genevieve Blatt and explained that Beth Ann died on the tragic Pan Am plane flight over Locherbk, Scotland on December 21, 1988. Beth Ann's mother mentioned an incident in the letter, saying that they would be forever grateful to Elizabeth Seton, that finally, Beth Ann's body had been found on January 4, 1989. The explosion occurred on December 21, 1988. Within a week, the girl who was with Beth Ann had been identified. I remember that we, Sister Jean Boggs and I were at the home of the girl's parents Doctor Saracene and wife, when
the call came saying that their daughter Elise's body had been found and identified. Doctor


Saracene and his wife worked in the art department at Seton Hill College. This of course had Beth Ann's parents waiting momentarily for a call. When it didn't come for another week, the Sisters in Pittsburgh suggested that the Sisters of Charity all, pray especially to Elizabeth Seton for Beth Ann's remains to be found. Word also went to our Sisters in Arizona and Korea. My sister, Genevieve and I talked about this on January third. I suggested to Genevieve that it would be nice to call Glenn and Carol, Beth Ann's parents and tell them about the special prayer project of The Sisters of Charity. Glenn and Carol were in London. I said : "It would be at least a bright moment for them to know that all the Sisters of Charity are praying." The next afternoon, I received a direct call from Carol in London saying that Elizabeth Seton came through. Beth Ann's parents were both happy to go down to Emmitsburg this past August. It was the only time since the tragedy that they were able to say when they came back that it was wonderful. I'm going to stop here.

SMCM: Alright, Sister. You have given us a lot of wonderful memories that have been precious to you over the years. I know that these history notes you have given us will be treasured.

SMAR: This is a somewhat edited edition of the oral history of Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp, which was recorded on five cassette tapes. I completed this on September 19. 2011.



OH-52-4-5 Sr. Mary Agnes Schildkamp -MEM

This is a tape on the memoirs of Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp about some of our beloved sisters. The interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at the Greensburg Faculty House. The date is March third, nineteen eighty-nine.

SMAS: Sister Marie Corona, my recollections of Sister Marie Francis Curran, the sister we are starting with today, is a brief, but very telling one, because it describes the personality of Sister Marie Francis. We were at Saint Simon and Jude in Blairsv ille, PA. This was in the early forties, so I was pretty young. Sister Marie Francis was the housekeeper there. It was far enough away from Seton Hill to be considered on the outskirts of Greensburg. Sister knew that I was just there temporarily, quite a little piece away from my family in Scottdale, and had just come from having surgery. She was particularly considerate. The one story I remember so vividly about her was that each day she would come out to the front porch of the convent. She knew recess time, which was when she did this. She would wave to me, and when she got my attention, she would hold up one finger or two fingers. If she could hold up three fingers, she almost jumped up and down. That meant that I had received mail that day.

Sister Norberta Murrin, who died May 16, 1935 is the next sister. Sister Norberta was the supervisor of schools when I was beginning teaching. I was professed in 1935. I was stationed at Sacred Heart. Sister Norberta came for an overnight visit. She had an appointment in East Liberty the next day. I was asked to be her companion. In those days we kept silence on the streets. Since I was companion to the supervisor was the second reason why I kept silence. At any rate, we walked up Center Avenue, came to the intersection of Center and Highland. I kept on walking up Center. Sister Norberta turned up Highland Avenue. I was pretty far up Center
Avenue before I even missed her. However, she was not very far up Highland Avenue before she missed me. She had turned around to see where I was. I didn't think it was funny. I laugh about it now. Remember, that in those days we wore outside bonnets that came out two or three inches past our face, so I couldn't see what Sister Norberta was doing. What I recall most vividly was I was sure I would be sent home or at least taken out of teaching. However, it was never mentioned at the convent. Sister Victorine didn't say anything about it. It was just passed off, but it never passed off with me.

Sister Liguori Gillespie, who died June 5, 1931... I knew Sister Liguori for one special, personal reason. She entered several years before me...not sure how many. The first Sister Mary Agnes and the frrst Sister Liguori were blood sisters. I did not ask for Sister Mary Agnes' name. I think it was Sister Mary Paul who suggested it to Mother Mary Francis because she knew that my mother' s name was Mary Agnes. I would never have asked for it. Sister died a couple of weeks after I entered in 1928. I didn' t know Sr. Mary Agnes at the time, nor did I know Sr. Liguori, but I knew that Sr. Mary Agnes had a blood sister living. Sister Liguori was approached, probably by Mother Mary Francis McCullough about my having her sister's name. Her response was: "Yes indeed! I want to see the person who is going to have my sister's name!" I was pleased enough about that, but Sister Liguori seemed to be an assistant to Mother Mary Francis.


She was around us novices all the time checking on us and advising us. That sort of thing. For instance, Sister Liguori would get my laundry every week before I did just to see if there was anything that needed to be mended. I wish I could say that she very graciously mended it for me. She brought whatever piece needed to be mended and showed me how to do it. I had to do it myself. I do recall and appreciate her sensitivity and attention to me just because I had her sister's name. She was well up in years. I remember one time in the novitiate at a Sunday morning conference, she held up a dining room service apron. I recognized it right away as mine. She said: "Sister Mary Agnes, what' s wrong with this apron?" I said to her: "Sister, it's too big. Is that what you wanted me to say?" I had pinned down the bib. Unfortunately, I left the pins in. I was in trouble for leaving the pins in to go through the laundry. So much for Sister Liguori.

Now Sister Agnes Daugherty who died just three years ago on May 31, 1986. I've known Sister Agnes for many years. I lived with her at St. Luke's in Carnegie. I think I knew Sister Agnes pretty well even before that. She was an eighth grade teacher. Probably our having the same name, Agnes, and her friendly disposition would explain how we happened to be good friends for quite a few years. The five years I was at St. Luke's, Sister Agnes was there. I'll tell you just one story. Sister Agnes Marie Reuber was there too. She was principal of the grade school.
Sister Agnes who was a soft spoken, gentle, loving, gracious and good teacher was in the eighth grade. At the beginning of our first year there, we had a meeting in the community room. After the meeting was over Sister Agnes Marie, who was the Sister Servant was in particularly good form. She said to me in Sister Agnes' s hearing: "You know Sister Mary Agnes, you and I are very fortunate. When some irate person comes to the door and·says: "I want to see that Sister Agnes, we'll give them Sister Agnes." Sister Agnes didn't mind, and of course we didn't have to refer anybody.

Sister Agnes Geraldine Euler was next to me in the community. She died ten years ago on June 9, 1979. I knew her from nineteen twenty-eight on until she died. She was lively, bright, and loved teaching. She was a successful principal of Sacred Heart Elementary School. She was Supervisor of our elementary schools for many years. Naturally I would remember her last month on earth. Sister died of Cancer. We visited her often...! did at Assumption Hall. She was still the same pleasant; I wouldn't say calm, but lively, interested person she had been all through those years. At the time we were in the novitiate, Sister Agnes Geraldine, Sister Catherine Agnes Holpp, Sister Agnes Louise Green, and Sister Mary Agnes Schildkamp were know as the four noisy Agneses. The only explanation that I can give for this is that one time, we didn't realize the seriousness of the silence from two o'clock to three o'clock PM in the afternoon. We went down to the orchard where we had a wonderful time. We figured it was out of bounds and were excused from the two o' clock silence. I'm not sure whether or not anyone reported us, but the label "Four Noisy Agneses" stuck with us briefly. I don't think anyone refers to it any more.

And now Sister Dominica O' Connor, who died on June 10, 1977. I knew Sister Dominica for a long time. I was with her in the mid thirties at Holy Innocents in Sheraden. That's where I came to know her well. Then later in the fifties, Sister was at Elizabeth Seton High School. At that time she was ill. She had a heart ailment. If there's such a person who is a typical, Irish,


gracious, lovely, nun, it would be Sister Dominica O'Connor. She had lots of stories she would tell about the Irish from her own background. Maybe she made them up. She was an excellent teacher. She taught Social Studies. In Sheraden at Holy Innocents, and that would have been 1934, Sister Dominica had an eighth grade. Sister Kathleen Kennedy, who came over from Ireland and I had the two seventh grades, so we were a threesome. I must say that the threesome with me with a name like Schildkamp was an excellent threesome as far as I was concerned. I learned much about teaching from that experience.

Sister Mary Cosmas King, who died on June 15, 1983, was born in one of the middle European countries. She did day work. How long she did this before entering, I don't know. Community records would show that. In Hazelwood, she met a woman named Mrs. Marie Peters. Sister Mary Cosmas, who was not yet Sr. Mary Cosmas and Marie became very good friends. I taught in Hazelwood from nineteen thirty until nineteen thirty-three. One of my students was Rita Peters, daughter of Marie. I taught Rita in the eighth grade. She died when she was either a Freshman or Sophomore in high school. It was from an accident. Mrs. Peters and her husband, Joe, grieved very much over the death of Rita. Sister Mary Cosmos, I remember, was a real consolation to Mrs. Peters and her husband at that time. I've kept in touch with Mrs. Peters, who now lives in Aliquippa. Her husband is deceased. My point is, that up until the death of Sister Mary Cosmas, she and Marie Peters kept in touch. Marie visited Sister Mary Cosmas at Assumption Hall. That relationship lasted over thirty or forty years. Sister Mary Cosmas was a housekeeper at St. Stephen's during the early thirties. She was really very good to us. Over half the house were novices, so we had many charges. Sister Mary Cosmas kept us in line. She knew what to do, and showed us how to do it. She was stem, and a little bossy, but I liked Sister Mary Cosmas. She was very good to us.

Moving now to Sister Marie Antoinette Reilly. She died on July 13, 1947. I can tell you very little about her. I was at old Sacred Heart down on Center Avenue. At this time, I want to say that she was in charge of the poor. I don' t know what her title was. In Father Coakley' s time, there was a parish set up connected with the St. Vincent de Paul Society for helping the poor. Sister Marie Antoinette worked full time, even though she was she was pretty well up in years. This would have been in the late thirties. My warm recollection of Sister Marie Antoinette was that she was a model for service...always sweet, gentle, and courteous to anyone who came to the door. Some came at ungodly hours. Some coming shabbily dressed. Others not even sober.
There were two houses which we used as our convent. The frrst floor of one of these houses was used by Sister Marie Antoinette for her work. All ofus admired and knew that Sister Marie Antoinette was giving us an example of St. Vincent de Paul's charity and I'm sure of Elizabeth Ann Seton' s as well. She was an inspiration. I was only there for one year, but I'm glad for that one year' s acquaintance.

Now I come to Sister M. Virginia Donnelly. Sister died the year before I entered on July 16, 1927. She was from Scottdale as was I. Our family lived on Fifth Avenue. The Donnelly' s lived on Fourth Avenue. I couldn' t tell you how many times I carried a suitcase for Sister Virginia when she came to visit her parents. Mrs. Donnelly always met us at the door and to


thank me gave me a holy card, a statue...something of that sort. There were two daughters in the convent, so I know now that Mrs. Donnelly probably had a good supply. Nonetheless, I did appreciate getting them. Sister Virginia and I walked up from the streetcar stop. We didn' t do much talking, but I thought she was very pretty.

Now, coming to Sister Francis Mary Coleman. Sister Francis Mary died on July 21, 1987. My sponsor, we used to call them our spiritual mother, was. Sister Mary Paul Coleman. They were blood sisters. Sister Mary Paul was my teacher in high school at Scottdale. Just because Sister Mary Paul was my sponsor, Sister Francis Mary took great interest in me. I know that she spent many years out West, and that her service out there is on record some where else in the archives. Sister Francis Mary was one of the first sisters I came to know and remember because of her friendliness, and her similarity of course to Sister Mary Paul. Before Sister Francis Mary died, she was at Assumption Hall for a couple of years. I used to visit her. She was blind at that time and couldn' t see. I would only have to start to say this is Sister Mary Agnes. She would say something like: "Oh Sister Mary Agnes, I' m glad to see you." I know that I reminded her of her own Sister Mary Paul. I enjoyed my visits with Sister Francis Mary and marveled at her patience. She was not only blind, but she was incapacitated in other ways.

Now, Sister Ildefonse Lambing, who died July 27, 1937. Sister Ildefonse was a blood sister to Father Michael Lambing, who was pastor at St. John' s in Scottdale for fifty years. I didn' t know him of course during his fifty years. He died just a couple of years after I entered, but at the time of my entrance, Sister Ildefonse was missioned to Scottdale. She taught piano. I took piano lessons from Sister Ildefonse. I admired her because I admired Father Lambing. We all did.
Sister Helen Marie Haley, who entered the year before I, both remember that Sister Ildefonse helped to make some of the clothes we had to take with us when we entered. I know I watched Sister Helen Marie whose quite tall..must be five feet nine or five ten. She was standing on a bench in the convent parlor being measured for the night gowns that we wore. I guess they were percale. I remember thinking at the time that I didn' t want to go to bed looking like that...dressed in that sort of thing. I think it's awful! I was a year younger than Helen. Therefore, I couldn't enter with her. However, a year later, after my junior year at school, I stood on that same bench and let Sister Ildefonse measure me for the same nightgowns.

And now, Sister M. Margretta Bernlohr, who died at Assumption 29, 1980. It happened that I and others were making a thirty day retreat at Doran Hall. What I remember almost solely were the trips we made to Assumption Hall to visit Sister Margretta who was dying. She was a little bit of a German sister. She was a real philosopher. Each time we went to see her , about three of us, even though she could hardly talk, she would give us just a few friendly words containing a moral message saying how wonderful it was to reach the point where you think you are going to Heaven, and are sure you will see the face of God. I know that whatever we heard from the retreat masters during these thirty days was made firm and real through our visits to Sister Margretta. Sure enough, she did go up to heaven before that retreat was over. We loved her.

We' re moving into the month of August. Early in the month of August, on the sixth, two sisters,


Mother M. Claudia Glenn and Sister M. Eugenia Hileman died on the same day. I knew Sister Eugenia at Sacred Heart High School. Sister M. Claire Blakely was the Principal. Sister Eugenia was pretty much the Administrator. Sister Eugenia was in the Religion Department. She was a prim, precise, very regular kind of sister. She expected the girls to be ladies. As I think of it now, her expectations of the girls, and her own disposition matched very much some of the sisters at Seton Hill College, who were deans of women, who expected Seton Hill women to look proper, to be gentle, to be courteous, etc. Let me put a little story in here. Now, this is 1989. The other day I was coming into the house via yellow cab. The cab driver told me he had just picked up four or five girls who were student teachers at Greensburg Salem High School.
He said they were so quiet. This was at the end of the day. I said to them: "What's the matter with you girls? I thought college students were supposed to be rowdy!"

Let me touch further on Mother M. Claudia Glenn. It was my memorable privilege to be at her bedside when she died at Assumption Hall. I had known her, not just as a Mother Superior, but also as an English teacher. I was in a couple of her classes at Seton Hill College. Then, even more personally than that, we lived on Fifth Avenue in Scottdale as afore mentioned, while the Glenns lived on Fourth Avenue. Again, although I never had to carry her suitcase, I remember her two sisters, the "Glenn girls" walking past our house with Mother Claudia. I knew Mother Claudia visited her sisters' homes frequently. Once, just once, when I was still a novice Sister Claudia was going to visit home, and I was going to visit my home. In those days, we had to have a companion. We left Seton Hill as companions, and I had the great joy of stopping off at our home all by myself, while she went on to Fourth Avenue to visit her family. It was unheard of. Sister Claudia had a companion. There were three of us. Sister Claudia has Sister M. Clementine Oler with her. They were great friends. Sister Clementine died on August 13, 1937.

Now, I come to Sister Marie Maree Hannon, who died on August 22, 1974. Anyone who was in the Congregation in nineteen seventy-four must surely have known Maree. She was a little bit of a whippet , I thought of her. She had charge of the chapel, not the sanctuary, but all the rest of our chapel at Seton Hill. She really took charge of it. You kept your books straight, or she straightened them for you. You kept the kneelers up or down as they she be, or she did it for you. You never left anything on the bench part of the pew that didn' t belong there, or it would disappear. I remember one morning toward the end of October when the time changes, I had forgotten to change the time. I went into chapel and there was no one there. Then I realized that I had another hour and got up too soon until up front between the pews someplace, was this little bit of a woman. She had been shining the floor. It was like an apparition. I was startled at first. Maree and I made it ahead of everyone else that morning. Now, the morning that Sister Maree died. It was August twenty-second, the feast of the Blessed Mother. Somehow, Maree made it known that she wanted to die on the feast of the Blessed Mother, and she had another wish. That was that she would never have to go to Assumption Hall. Well, Sister Maree, as was her custom walked down to the Cathedral in Greensburg for an early Mass. Habitually, she would walk down the hill. She would have been wearing a mantle and our big bonnet. Sister Maree could walk quickly down the hill, and also up the hill, which was pretty steep to the Cathedral.
However, this particular morning, I had some reason for going to the early Mass at the Cathedral


too. Sister Rose Agnes McGowan wanted to go also. I was driving. As we were leaving Seton Hill, apparently there was some message at the switchboard about an accident. We remembered later. Well, we went out and got in the car. Sure enough, when we got to the foot of the hill, we saw Sister Maree, who had been struck by a car. There were no police there yet. There was a little bit of black fabric on the street, just below the curb on the side of the tunnel. It was Sister Maree. She was crossing the street to make her way up the hill to the Cathedral. Of course, this little bit of black fabric did not move. She was dead. The driver of the car's name was Locker(his last name). I don't remember his first name. He was a Produce Manager at one of the Kroger stores. He was on his way to work. He was crushed and heart broken. In a very short time an ambulance came, and we followed it up to Westmoreland Hospital. She was declared Dead On Arrival. I mention her dying on the feast of the Blessed Mother, and her not wanting to go to Assumption Hall. Bishop Connare celebrated her funeral liturgy. I remember his homily quite well. First of all, he consoled the Lockers. Mr. Locker and his wife were there. Bishop Connare told them that they should not feel guilty. By this time they knew how quickly Sister Maree moved and that she habitually went to this early Mass. She was not looking to the side. I know Bishop Connare made the Lockers feel much better. But then Bishop Connare said that Sister Maree had achieved two great wishes in her life...one was to die on the feast of the Blessed Mother and the other was that she would not have to go to Assumption Hall. We all laughed because we knew that Sister Maree had made this quite clear.

Now, that brings me to Sister Leocadia Mulholland, who died on August 23, 1980. I knew Sister Leocadia at Elizabeth Seton High School. She was a wonderful cook and beautiful seamstress.
Her needle work, which is framed hangs in Assumption Hall. Leocadia was a real artist with her hands...whether it was with food, or needle and thread. What's particularly amazing about it is that she had three fingers missing. When she was in the kitchen at Seton Hill, she lost these fingers in one of the machines. She continued in her work cooking and sewing. Even at Assumption Hall, she continued embroidering pillow slips, framing needle work, etc. She did the kinds of needle work that some of us could only admire, but not do. She was the housekeeper and cook at De Paul Institute when we were at Elizabeth Seton during the early years. In those early years at Seton, we had Mass in the house during the week days. We had to go up to De Paul for Sunday Mass, which was about a mile or more away for those of us who walked. Ordinarily though we went by taxi cabs. We didn't have cars in those days. Every Sunday, Sister Leocadia sent us home with pecan rolls or other goodies. She realized that we were pioneering. There was no one in our house at Seton who could begin to match her skill in the kitchen. Sister Marie Antonia McLinden was there at De Paul also. Between Sister Leocadia and Sister Marie Antonia, they were very good to us.

That brings me to an outstanding school woman in the Community....Sister Borgia Casey. She died on August 31, 1949. Sister Borgia was supervisor of schools for a while, but I don't remember her so much as a supervisor, but as a beginning teacher. I'm going to omit saying anymore about Sister Borgia here, as Sister told about her in her own oral history.


Immediately on my list is Sister M. Pauline Rodgers, who died on September 3, 1957. Sister Pauline was principal of St. John the Baptist School in Scottdale when I was in grade school there. I remember her very well. She gave the appearance of being stem and quite a disciplinarian, but she was a very understanding person. I recall that three or four of us girls, who, during Lent this particular year went to the six thirty Mass every morning. We ourselves considered that to be pretty heroic. One cold, wintry morning, we stayed around after Mass and skated right in front of the school. The school was set back on a concrete block. We had a long skating path made before we went home to get our breakfast. Well, when we got to school, Sister Pauline was looking for the young women who had made a dangerous, skating path.
Didn' t we realize that the children could fall, that they could be injured, and that this was a very risky thing for us to do? We were thinking that we were pretty holy by going to Mass at six thirty in the morning. She was quite upset about this and said that she was going to call our parents. One of the girls was my cousin Ethel, and I knew that they did not have a telephone.
The second girl was Helen Plutonic, and her mother didn't answer the phone because she didn' t speak English. I was the only one whose mother would get a phone call. When I mentioned the situation to Sister Pauline, I think she was relieved. She said: "Well then, you may go back to your classrooms. Just don' t make anymore skating paths."

Here is Sister M. Carmelita Quigley's name coming up. During the first few years when we were pioneering at Elizabeth Seton High School, Sister Carmelita came just to be a senior sister on the mission. We knew her as a Music Professor at Seton Hill College. This was in the early pioneering days at Elizabeth Seton High School. We got to know another side of Sister Carmelita. She was so gracious. She was a perfect hostess, no matter who came. We lived in close quarters. She was not any more comfortable or better off than the rest of us, but she loved it. She was nice to the students and enjoyed whatever Music she heard during the day.

And now, I'm still in the month of September, Sister Constantia Murphy. I think the story has gone down through the years, and this would have happened in the early nineteen thirties, when I was at Saint Stephen's in Hazelwood. Sister Constantia was the Music teacher...fue person.
Sister had a great choir there...sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. We all remember the evening we were at dinner, of course in silence when the doorbell rang. Whoever went out and answered opened the door wide. The man who was delivering something shouted: "Sister Constantinople, is this where she lives?"

Sister Charles Regina Davis was our fourth grade teacher at St. John the Baptist School in Scottdale. I'll tell you one story about her. The year I was in fourth grade, which was in the early twenties, the sisters changed from wearing the oil cloth cap to the silk cap. This happened at Christmas, which was understandable as Christmas was the day the sisters renewed their vows. When we came back to school after Christmas vacation, there was Sister Charles Regina in a shiny, new cap. We thought Sister Charles Regina was ancient, but there she was in this shiny, new cap, which made her look young. We had a weekly assignment every week, and that was to write about and get up and read whatever happened in the past week. Some of it we made up.
This week after Christmas, we all had the same thing to say: " Sister Charles Regina came back to


school wearing a shiny, new cap, and it makes her look like sixteen." She accepted every bit of our complimentary talk.

Sister Agnes Marie Reuber, who died in 1975. She too is remembered by many of the sisters. Sister Agnes Marie and another sister whom I'll mentioned later was "a black eyed German." She referred to me also as being "a black eyed German." The other sister is Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub. I came to know Sister Agnes Marie partly when she was on the council as procuratrix at Seton Hill, but mainly when she was principal of Cathedral School in Altoona. That would have been in the late nineteen thirties. I'm omitting this next part as Sister already told about it in her oral history.

I would like to mention Sister Jeannine Connelly, who died in 1960. I remember Jeannine when she was a student at Elizabeth Seton High School. Her Baptismal name was also Jeannine. She died as a very young sister.

And then, that brings us to November 1, 1951 when Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub died. Sister Hildegarde was the principal of Cathedral School in Altoona. She was the one, who sent to my eighth grade door, a girl who was a problem. She lived in a house...I cannot say it was a home. Her mother brought her to Cathedral School as a last resort. She had just been expelled from a school in Lakemont, which is just outside of Altoona, for slapping or striking a teacher. She wasn' t interested in anything we were teaching, but in no time we discovered that she was an artist. If she was missing from class, or didn' t go home, the janitor had to make sure she wasn't in one of the primary classrooms helping to decorate bulletin boards. She was wonderful. She even did a commissioned piece of art work for Bishop Guilfoyle. The story is long, so I'm just going to tell you the ending. She was in and out of the church. She had two babies at Roselia Foundling. She died five years ago in Tucson, Arizona. She died of cancer. I heard that she had just a few weeks to live. I called her. Her sister, who was in her room, answered the phone. I identified myself and asked to speak to her. She had no voice, only breath. Her last words to me were: "Sister, you don' t have to worry anymore. Everything is fixed up." I learned that she had, on her own sent for the chaplain, and received the sacraments. A day or two later, she died.

One story about Sister Mary Hubert Metzler, who died November 3, 1975. Mary Hubert was the telephone operator at Seton Hill for a long time. She was just a frail, little person. Her bones, as I recall, broke readily. She and I shared a room at Pittsburgh Hospital many years ago. ( I couldn't understand the time she gave.) While Sister Mary Hubert was a patient, her mother died. She was bed ridden and couldn't get to the funeral. I was many years younger than Sister Mary Hubert. She was sad and prayed. I laid in my bed admiring her courage, her resignation, and her understanding of what was best for her mother.

Sister M. Hilda Corless, who died November 9, 1967. She was our eighth grade teacher at St. John the Baptist School in Scottdale. When I say our, I'm thinking of others who were in the class, like Sister Helen Marie Haley. Sister Hilda was a perfect lady. She did not want us to use slang. Now when I say slang, I mean words like alright. ( I couldn' t understand what she was


saying. I did pick up that Sister Hilda considered the correct response to be "Very Well."

Sister M. Lucilla Costel, who died November 12, 1955. She was from outside (couldn't determine). It was just outside of Scottdale. She was the oldest of three or four. She used to come to the school to meet her siblings. I suppose they hiked their way home. I recall her as the sacristan or assistant sacristan at Cathedral in Altoona. She was scrupulously careful about the sacred vessels. She wanted them shined. The same was true about the vestments, all of which were used in the Cathedral. I recall one time especially that she polished beautifully a chalice that belonged to Bishop Guilfoyle. He was very unhappy about it because it was old and he loved the evidence of its page and whatever discoloration happened to be on it. She had removed it all, and shined it up. He wasn't angry, but I recall the experience because it made me think when I see some old relic looking objects why you wouldn't want to shine them up.
You want them to show their age.

Sister Rose Vincent McNulty, who died December 3, 1968. No doubt in Sister Rose Vincent's file, there are many stories about the work she did both in administration and education. She was Sister Servant at Sacred Heart when I went there as a substitute. At any rate, she was particularly gracious and thoughtful. We were still just five year novices. There again, we saw her differently from when she was on the council as an administrator at Seton Hill. On the mission, we saw her as an interested, friendly person, not as an administrator.

Sister M. Loyola Conrad, who died December 4, 1948. She was a dear, little second grade teacher at St. John the Baptist in Scottdale. We thought she was old, but she may not have been. She loved processions. She was in charge of any activity that the first and second grade were engaged in. She herself was little, so it was easy to be friends with Sister Loyola. I'm sure there are stories in her file about the confident teacher that she was, and of her unusual understanding of little children.

I'm going to mention Sister Sara Marie O'Hara, who died on December 5, 1964. Her last mission was at Elizabeth Seton High School. She had multiple sclerosis. We saw her go from being a full time business teacher to being a part time (couldn't make out what she said) teacher, until she became a patient at Assumption Hall. At some stage of her illness, it was decided that she should go down to Washington DC for a week in the summertime for treatment. I was asked to go with her. I stayed at St. Anne's Orphanage with the Daughters of Charity. Sister Sara Marie, of course was with The Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg. On July fourth, the Sister Servant, who had noticed that Sister was quite disabled suggested that we go over to Emmitsburg and spend the day with Sister Sara Marie, as she wouldn't be having any treatment that day. At that time, the Daughters in Emmitsburg, after their main meal went in procession to Mother Seton's tomb to pray for her canonization. There were about five hundred sisters in the procession. This particular day the sisters knew about Sister Sara Marie's condition. The Sister Servant had told them. The Sisters decided that the intention of the rosary that day would be for Sister Sara Marie. Now, Sister Sara Marie was able slowly to get to Mother Seton's tomb.
Much of the rosary was over by the time we got there. I know that this event meant much to


Sister Sara Marie. The Sister Servant gave her a first class relic of Mother Seton, which were not too plentiful at that time. What I personally remember about the event is that Sister Sara Marie said: "I'm going to say a rosary for you every day as long as I live." I'm sure that these rosaries are still a great trust fund for me.

Sister Mary Paul Coleman, who died December 14, 1950. Sister Mary Paul was one of our high school teachers at St. John the Baptist in Scottdale. I think there were nine ofus who were candidates of Sister Mary Paul. She was a popular high school teacher. I remember that shortly after I entered in nineteen twenty-eight, Sister Mary Paul, who I thought was pretty well up in years , celebrated her Silver Jubilee. As far as I was concerned, that confirmed the fact that she was pretty well up in years. I've changed my mind about Jubilarians being old, since some of my former students are Golden Jubilarians.

Sister M. Victorine Ellsworth, who died on December 14, 1952. Sister Victorine was principal of both the grade and the high school at St. John the Baptist in Scottdale when I entered. She was a good principal as far as I can recall, but she was a lively, friendly, person. I know she loved Music. It was her idea that we walk out of school at dismissal every day to the accompaniment of piano music. We think of the old days as being strict and structured, but Sister Victorine put life into what otherwise would have been a routine school day.

Now I'm moving to Sister John Baptist Curren, who died on December 28, 1989. I have just one thing to say and that was that she was my second grade teacher.

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