A Long Ago Memory Plus A Tip

Can you guess which one is me?*

      Like many researchers of Irish Catholic descent, I've found more than a few nuns in my tree.  I never met any of those relatives, but they call to mind those I have personally known.  The ones that really stand out were the Sisters of St. Joseph who taught me when I was small.  As a child they seemed to me so large and imposing in their black habits and their wimples, giant crucifixes swinging from their waists. I was convinced that if they so chose, they could call down the wrath of God upon me so I was on my best behavior in their presence.

     This is not a tell all however, I have no bad memories of my time with the Sisters.  What I do recall are sing alongs, the little plastic rosaries they gave us, stacks of beautiful pastel colored cards bearing images of saints.  I remember playing games with them, Duck Duck Goose and Farmer in the Dell.  The only annoyance was the elderly Sister with a penchant for gently poking us with her pointer during Mass should our backsides slump onto the seat behind us when we were supposed to be kneeling in our pew.  To this day I have my wee rosary and I do not slouch.

     I've thought of those nuns many times over the years and wondered what brought them to our little parish?  I was never quite clear on that.  They would arrive in early July and by August they were gone.  Curiosity finally got the better of me and I wrote to the order's archivist in Rochester to inquire.  This is the letter I found in my mail box a few days later--

Dear Ellen,

I received your email inquiry about the Sisters who taught catechetics at St. Dominic’s Parish in Shortsville in the 1960s.  Our Sisters were sent to parishes throughout the Diocese – principally, rural areas -- in the summer to provide religious education to Catholic children who were not able to attend Catholic schools.  Shortsville was one of the summer “centers” for catechetics from 1948 to 1963.  (After 1963, Shortsville doesn’t appear on our summer assignment lists.)

Here are the names of the Sisters who taught at St. Dominic’s in the summers of 1961, 1962, and 1963:

Summer 1961 and Summer 1962

Sister Mary Martha

Sister Rose Bernard

Sister Euphrasia

Sister Mary Leon

Sister Bernice

Sister Anna Gertrude

Summer 1963

Sister Mary Martha

Sister Anna Gertrude

Sister Mary Leon

Sister St. John

Sister Mary Claver

Sister Paulitta

Sincerely,

Kathleen Urbanic

Congregational Archivist

     I also found a newspaper article about their 1963 visit in The Canandaigua Daily Messenger--

     The Rev. John F. Wolach, pastor of St. Dominic’s Church, has announced that summer religion classes for children of the parish will be held July 8-25 from 9-11:30 a.m.  Six sisters of St. Joseph will instruct the pupils of grades one through eight. 

     I was one of those first graders, preparing for my First Communion which would take place the following year.  The yearly visits had ended by 1964, but several of the Sisters returned to see us through this momentous occasion that year.  I was glad to see them.   

     Now for the tip.  Finding that article was not easy.  The newspaper is available on Ancestry, but hard as I searched nothing came up.  Finally I went to Newspaper Archive.com.  In a matter of minutes I had found the article, which the site allows a snippit view of, and noted the date of publication.  I then returned to Ancestry and searched the newspaper by date. Voila!  

    

*Back row next to Father