Letter from Sister Brigetta
Submitted by Liz Spear, granddaughter of Genevieve (Smith) Byrne. Letter to her Elizabeth Willrodt, 1985
Sisters of St. Benedict
MT. ST. BENEDICT SUMMIT AVENUE
CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA 56716
March 15, 1985
Dear Elizabeth,
You will be surprised to receive this letter from me, as I know we have never met. However, I know you are my mother’s cousin and you corresponded with her regularly when she was living. Mother often spoke of you and told us we had many relatives in South Dakota. I feel bad that we never got to know our relatives there.
Before my mother (Mary Buckley) died in 1975, I started writing up some of our family history. She liked to talk about it and I did get quite a lot of dates and stories from her. But after she died, I sort of set aside the project. On December 30, 1984, my youngest brother Eugene died of a heart attack in Colusa, California. He was 59 years old. In January, Sister Carmella and I went to Fergus Falls to visit my brother and sister there, and while we were there, my sister Margaret Welander received a letter from my Aunt Florence Alexander in which she had enclosed the notice of your husband’s death. As we spoke about it, we all decided to write to you and express our sympathy and assure you of our prayers. He must have been a wonderful man. I remember Mother saying he had been a state senator for some time. We would really like to know more about your family and the other relatives there.
I had started a family tree of sorts and will send it to you. The Information I have about my grandfather’s family is very sketchy. Perhaps you could fill in some of the information or correct anything I may have incorrect. From what Mother told me, I know he was born in Ireland. I don’t know the names of his parents or whether they all moved to America or not. Also, I understand he had children, Pat, Owen and Susan, but perhaps there were more. Who these people married and where they lived, etc., I do not know. If you would have the time and the energy, perhaps you could give me some of the family history from your side of the family. I don’t know the state of your health, or whether you are able to do this or not, but I thought I would ask anyway. Mother thought the world of you, I know. I still have a letter you wrote her, and you have beautiful handwriting. I will also send you what I wrote down about the McPhillips family from the stories she told me. Please feel free to correct anything that may be incorrect. I would really appreciate all of this.
I’m sure Mother told you that her oldest daughter, Florence, became a Benedictine Sister and is known as Sister Carmella. She is a musician——a very good one. She is 71 years old now, but is still teaching. She looks much younger and loves to teach piano. She loves to be with the children and they all seem to love her, too. I came about in the middle of the family and was Mary Catherine. I also became a Benedictine Sister and am Sister Brigetta. We both have been living at the motherhouse here in Crookston since 1960. I taught business in our Academy here until it was closed in 1981. Since then I have been doing secretarial work for the major superior
here. We call our major superior Prioress. Sister Cornelia is our present Prioress. She will be leaving office in June and we will be electing a new one. Sister Cornelia has had two 4—year terms, so it is time to elect a new one now. Who it will be is still in God’s mind. Sister Cornelia has been a wonderful superior.
We still write to Aunt Florence quite often. We went to see her two years ago. She looked the same as ever, although she is now 84 years old. She still goes to Mass every day almost. Her greatest drawback is that she cannot hear very well. So she doesn’t mingle much with the other people who live in her apartment house. Her daughter, Jeanne, comes to see her every week and calls her up on the phone every day. Also, her son Firmin Jr. lives quite close by. Firmin Sr. died just recently. She told us that in the same letter she told of your husband’s death. So all our families have had deaths in the families this year. We were so shocked when my youngest brother died. His children are all married. Most of them have written to us since. We were not able to get out to California for the funeral.
I hope you are well, and that you will be able to write to us. I noticed on the notice of your husband’s death, that one of the priests was a Father McPhillips. That interested me very much, of course. I wonder if there are other religious in the family that we don’t know about.
I haven’t mentioned to Sister Carmella that I am writing to you today, so I don’t know if she will be enclosing a note or not. I know she was very interested in knowing more about you all.
I hope you have a blessed Lent and that it will culminate with a glorious Easter for you.
Love and prayers,
Sister Brigetta Buckley O.S.B.