Sr. Mary Adolph

We were so saddened to hear about the death of our dear family friend, Sister Mary Adolph. She (and her sister, Sister Bernadine Maria) were both Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and best friends with my grandmother. My grandmother was a postulant at Nazareth where she became friends with the sisters, but then she got sick and had to leave. She and my grandfather started dating, and the rest is history. However, the good sisters remained our friends forever. Both sisters (until Sr. Bernadine Maria died about 6 years ago) have been with us for Thanksgiving and Easter, as well as all our weddings, baptisms, etc. for my whole life. When I was in college, I took a lot of trips to Nazareth with my grandpa to see the good sisters. In recent years, my mom and I have taken a couple trips a year with the kiddos to Nazareth. Sr. Mary Adolph joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at the age of 16 and passed away at 89. She taught elementary school for many, many years and was considered quite the "party animal" (as much as one can be as a nun). I remember her dancing at one of our family weddings. We will miss her so much at our family functions! I have many pictures I could share, but these are the ones that were easily available.

Last Christmas, Sister was in rehab at the Nazareth home in Louisville. We took the kids over to see her. The boys sang her Christmas carols, while Sophie spent time trying to pull off her oxygen tubes.

Last Easter

Thanksgiving 2008

Andrew and I went to the funeral at Nazareth with Mom and Dad, Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve, Ann and the Colin children. The Mass was very nice and we had the opportunity for visitation beforehand in the chapel. After the funeral and the cemetary, we all had dinner in the dining room. It reminded me of the times we'd been in there with Sister and Pappy for snacks and meals before. Sister was always wanted to parade her visitors around Nazareth and loved to feed the kiddos ice cream and cookies. She always brought bags of goodies for the kiddos that she had been collecting for days. Sister will be missed at Thanksgiving this year. Of all things, I will miss her hugs and kisses, which were so genuine. I admire her for her ability to get her way - I will always remember how she commandeered the picture frames centerpieces from my wedding because she wanted them. Sr. Mary Adolph is the end of a generation for our family, and she will be missed so much by all of us.