attended Sacred Heart School from
grades three through eight. Apparently
the Sisters made a lasting impression
on Patricia Ann, because after attending
two years in Pratt High School, she
decided to become a Sister herself. She entered St. Mary Convent, where she received the name of Sister Cleophas. The name did not receive an enthusiastic welcome from Patricia Ann or her family. Her father couldn’t pronounce it, her brother couldn’t spell it, and no one, including Patricia Ann, liked it.
However, she learned to live with it for over thirty years. Then one day, after the Vatican Council, an announcement was made in the cafeteria at SMPC that the Sisters would be given the option of returning to their baptismal name. When Sister Cleophas heard this news, her sisters gave witness that she joyfully pumped her fist in the air a few times as she exclaimed in a loud voice, “Call me Pat!” It has been Pat for them ever since. However, for Sister Patricia, it was and always will be “Patricia.”
She set out on a career of teaching, spending 20 years as a grade school teacher. After a close call of being asked to go into Math by Sister Lewis Kennedy, she credits her survival as a history teacher to Sister Justina McCarthy, Both of these sisters were wisdom figures for her.
Having attained both her BA and M.A. degrees in history, Sr. Pat taught 9 years in high school and 20 years at St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City. When she decided that she “had spilled enough red ink in her teaching career,” she left teaching (no, not to retire) but to work in the library where she ended her time as an assistant Librarian after 10 years. Pat did state that she had receive a “Smattering of ignorance spread all across Kansas,” when she pursued advanced studies in science in several different Kansas Universities. A bit of her blarney, perhaps?
Arlys: Maybe another little piece of her blarney appeared when she was asked about her classmates. “We were models of virtue” she stated, with a twinkle. While she believes that Sister Agnes Mary Isenbart was the most fun, I think the little Irish sister, who returned to her Irish name, Patricia, as soon as she could after Vatican II and who played Santa Claus for her class, not coming down the chimney, of course, but through the window, added much joy and laughter.
Finally, Sister Patricia says she is retired but still likes to read, crochet and sew. She has the unique distinction of being a life-long seamstress. She has made all of her own clothes, including her habit, since she was sixteen years old.
After seventy-five years as a Sister of St. Joseph, Sister Patricia speaks of a life lived fully, in deep gratitude. One can see clearly, as she reflects back upon her life, why she can say with the psalmist in psalm 116, “What return can I make to the Lord for all he has done for me.” We would say, “continue to live life, Sister Patricia, with that beautiful Irish spirit.”
Little Patricia was born in Ottawa, Illinois, and
immediately became quite a traveler. She
said that she had been in four states by the time
she was four months old. While I was impressed with the little traveler, she made it clear that they did not settle in all of the states, just passed through on their way to Kansas, where good things happened to her.
Sister Patricia has a way of saying things that sound impressive and believable. I think that even spills over into her political views, at times. When Sr. Patricia talks politics, there is little doubt where she stands.
Patricia Ann became acquainted with
the
Sisters of St. Joseph when she
At the time of her entrance, the stock market had crashed and the
United States was experiencing the worst of times in the Great Depression and a war was brewing overseas. A ray of hope happened here, however, in Wichita, Kansas.
“When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” Have you heard that song?
You have
when you talk with our 75th Jubilarian, Sister Patricia Kelly, or Pat,
as she is fondly called. You won’t talk long with Sister Patricia without
noticing that she inherited a lot of the Irish wit,and maybe a bit of the
Irish blarney, from her Irish ancestors. The second of nine children,
she was baptized Patricia Ann. She and each of her siblings were
named after a family member. Patricia was given the name of both
her grandmother’s and I suppose we could also say that she was
named after the Father of all Irish Catholics, St. Patrick himself.
75 Years
|
