Catholic Sisters Week - March 8-14, 2022 |
The Impact Rochester Franciscan Sisters Had on My Life
Sisters Leontius Schulte, Jeremias McRaith, and Yvonne Elskamp
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Submitted by Marilyn Habler Bellezzo
CST Class of 1974
The fall of 1970 brought me to the campus of the College of Saint Teresa (CST) as a new freshman. It was not my choice for college, and even though I applied and was accepted at other colleges and universities, my mother, Marian Pickett Habler, a CST graduate (Class of 1938), insisted that I attend there. I accepted her choice because she wanted me to have the same rich and happy college experience she had at CST. I figured that I could always transfer if it didn’t work out.
I was NOT prepared for what I witnessed upon my initial arrival with my parents to 1st South Lourdes Hall. Even as a naïve 18-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska, I knew this was an extraordinary place. Right before my eyes, my mom’s eyes lit up as she entered 1st South. She became “lighter and younger” in appearance, voice, and manner. (My mother was terminally ill, so this transition in her demeanor was pretty dramatic.) What inspired this? Well, it was Sister Jeremias McRaith running towards her! Sister Jeremias loudly greeted her – “Marian!” My mom literally ran into her open arms. I am not kidding you – I had never seen my mom hug anyone that way – not even family! She melted into Sister’s arms full of love, caring, and acceptance. I was not embarrassed as most 18-year-olds would be but shocked, and I knew I was indeed witnessing a part of my mom that I never knew, a vulnerability, ease, and comfort level that was brought forth by a Sister! Total bliss and caring! My mom turned into a young girl right before my eyes!
As a result, I had a special bond with the Sisters who knew my mom – especially my mom’s math professor, Sister Leontius Schulte. Growing up, my mom also mentioned with love Sisters Bede Donelan, Helen Barden, Camille Bowe, Thomas A’Kempis Kloyda, and M. Aloysius Molloy.
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Sister Jeremias was my first ‘boss’ when I took on a job at the Lourdes CST switchboard. In fact, reprimanded me that it was not appropriate to announce on the dorm intercom “Kathy, you have a guest, get your 'bod' down to the lobby…” And, I might add, she was frequently regaled with the opening line “Jeremias was a bullfrog” from Three Dog Night’s musical hit, “Joy to the World.” She received each serenade with a smile and twinkle in her eye!
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Sister Leontius was also my friend at CST. I would bring my speech therapy kids in her classroom to meet and greet her. I always remember her with a smile, and she never made a fuss that I needed her help in math, even though my mother was a math education major. She continued to write to me even after my graduation in 1974. When I was getting my master’s degree at Marquette University, who should be walking down the street but Sister Leontius! She was in Milwaukee visiting her sister. And of course, we had a big hug and chat there!
My mom passed away in 1976 at age 59. Sister Leontius wrote me a very long letter a few weeks before my mom actually passed, thinking she had already passed because a letter she had written to my mom at the hospital was inadvertently returned back to her in Minnesota. So, I read the letter that Sister Leontius had sent to me to my mom in the hospital. She enjoyed knowing what Sister Leontius thought of her! It was a comfort to her. Sister Leontius felt upset about sending me the premature letter – even though it was only by a few weeks – but in some ways, she knew in her heart it was the end, so she comforted both my mother and me. The last letter I received from her, she told me she was 92 years and she was still very much ‘with it,’ giving me consolation, prayers, and advice. She helped console me in life’s many challenges and was very candid with me. Even though my own spiritual faith is now very shaky, due to various life events and suffering, I still admire the faith and fortitude these women have shown, and hope one day to aspire to their beautiful example.
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Wonderful memories also came from being a student and friend of Sister Yvonne Elskamp, who recently passed away. I wish I would have corresponded with her after I graduated, but sadly, I did not. She did so much after her CST days! She was really sweet and taught me in several classes, particularly special education as part of my speech therapy major. We were friends outside of class and she even sewed a stuffed rabbit for me to use with my therapy students, and I would take them to visit her, too. Always soft-spoken and modest, she could laugh at herself. I recall a field trip our class took to observe special education in action. She drove us in a yellowish woody station wagon. After our time there was completed, we emerged back to the parking lot and Sister Yvonne was frantically trying to get the key into the car door to unlock it but it would not open. The majority of us gals were encouraging her and blamed the difficulty on the cold snowy day until Sister Yvonne looked up and around and then realized that a few cars over, was her car. This was the wrong car! We had a good laugh over that one!
The vast majority of Sisters I knew at CST had a super sense of humor. These Sisters were great human beings and they were there for us! They wanted us to be the best we could be! They were humble, kind, and loving to us.
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I will close with something my mom shared with me about a memory she had with the Sisters during her early college days that may not be familiar to most of us. She said there were other Sisters at CST back in her day who were not teachers, but had the job of cleaning the campus. She recalled a time when she was about to climb the stairs in St. Teresa Hall, when a Sister was on her hands and knees scrubbing them with a brush! She said that the Sister actually got up, and backed out of the way for my mom, and sort of bowed to her as she did so!!! Different times, different eras, but, this gesture encapsulates the feeling the Sisters had for the spirits of the people they served. Service to others – I think that was the Sisters’ ethos – loving and service to their God. My own remembrance of the Sisters of CST, as well as my late mother’s, would be loving, serving, and caring! I am so grateful for the Sisters and especially to my mom for sending me to CST – her alma mater – because to this day, I have several very close friends who are like sisters to me and now we regularly share each other’s lives – by loving, serving, and caring for each other, just as the Sisters did in their loving example. Blessings to all the Sisters! |
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Reflections from College of Saint Teresa Alumnae |
Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota until its closing in 1989.
In recognition of Catholic Sisters Week, we asked several alumnae to share their memories of the Sisters serving at CST and the impact the Sisters had on their lives.
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