Sister Mary Creighton
1920-2007
There must have been added joy in heaven during this Christmas season of 2007. Six days before the Feast of the Nativity, God took Sister Mary Creighton to eternity. There she joined the loved ones who had preceded her, especially her sister, Sister Marie Therese, who had been awaiting her since September 2006.
The parents of the two Creighton sisters were Gordon and Mary Ellen (Brick-Cross) Creighton, both originally from Canada. Gordon Creighton came from an English family, and Mary Ellen Brick-Cross, from Irish and French descent. In her autobiography, Sister Mary explained that her grandmother had been married twice—to a man named Brick, and later to a Captain Cross, who for many years was captain of a ship on the Great Lakes. She vividly remembered her Grandfather and Grandmother Cross, with whom she spent many happy summers in Canada.
Her father, with two of his brothers (Clement and Franklin) left Canada, and found work in Detroit on the Henry Ford assembly line. Whether her parents married in Canada or Detroit she did not say, but they settled and raised their family in Detroit’s Visitation Parish. Their children all attended Visitation Grade and High School. Sister Mary wrote, “I have many happy memories of my school days and the spirit of the parish.” She also wrote of frequently visiting her uncles Clem and Frank.
Although the Creightons were married in the Church, Gordon Creighton was not a Catholic. He was raised an Episcopalian. Sister Mary wrote that his family was very proud of their English heritage and of the “men of the cloth” numbered among their members. His conversion to the Catholic Faith several years after his marriage (at the same time that his daughter Marie made her First Communion) estranged him to some extent from his parents and sisters.
On January 19, 1920, the Creightons welcomed their first child and christened her Doris Mary (usually called Dorie or Dorie Mary). She grew up with four sisters (Helen, Marie Therese, Patricia, and Theresa) and a brother (Joseph). She also mentioned another sister (Caroline) who died of spinal meningitis at an early age. Patricia and Theresa were much younger than the four older siblings, and Sister Mary wrote, “It was great fun having two little sisters!” At the wake, her sister Patricia said:
Sister Mary was the oldest… and she would frequently remind me of this. She was definitely in charge of Terry and me, and she fulfilled her responsibility with glee. She hd a cloth doll, big and blue, which she would use to coerce us to “toe the line.” How fortunate we were to have such care!
In grade school, Dorie was very shy. But in her high school years, she blossomed. She took a public speaking class, won the declamation and oratorical contests during her junior and senior years, was on the debating team and in the glee club, and began her study of music. The Glee Club put on an operetta each year, usually something from Gilbert and Sullivan. Each year the senior class also put on a play. The play during her senior year was “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” and she had one of the leading roles.
In her autobiography, she wrote of the beautiful family life that she enjoyed.
We grew up during the Depression. There were hard times but we always had good meals, a mother at home, and a loving, dedicated father… On Easter Sunday we would gather with Dad at the kitchen window to watch the sun dance through colored glasses. There are also hilarious memories of the family rosary, family pictures, picnics at Belle Isle, and visits from Grandfather Creighton, who would arrive with a basket of purple grapes from Mooretown [Canada].
She wrote that the desire to be a sister was in her mind from her early years.
When I was in grade school my favorite pastime was playing ‘sister.’ I would put a white baby’s diaper on my head and conduct ‘class’ with as many neighborhood children as I could gather. We also used to play ‘church.’ We would have ‘Mass’ and “Communion’ (oyster crackers)… My brother Joe was the priest.
She described the visit of a missionary priest during the first few months of her senior year. To be a missionary was not her desire, and listening to his talk did not change her mind. It did, however, reinforce her vocation. She had made a habit of stopping in church for a short visit each day after school; and one day in November the certainty came to her that the time had arrived for her to begin serving God as a religious sister. As she already had enough credits for graduation, she decided to save her parents the expense of graduation by entering the Adrian Congregation in February.
A week before her entrance, her two younger sisters came down with the measles. She had never had the measles, so for that week she stayed at St. Ambrose Convent with the sisters. She wrote that it was fun going out with friends who had nightly parties for her, and then returning to the convent.
On February 4, 1938, however, she appeared in Adrian and accepted the postulant’s veil. With her group, she received the habit and her religious name (Sister Mary John) on August 24, 1938, and professed her first vows on August 25, 1939. She began her college studies as a music major, and so in all her school assignments she also taught music as well as conducting an elementary classroom.
Within a short time of profession Sister Mary was on the train for Illinois, where she spent the next five years: at St. Patrick School in Joliet for a year, and at St. Matthew in Chicago for four years.
She returned to Michigan, for the next thirteen years: two years at St. Jude in Detroit, four years at Sacred Heart in Bad Axe, four years at Sacred Heart in Hudson, and finished in the Upper Peninsula at St. Mary and St. Joseph in Iron Mountain for three years. It was during these years, in 1950, that she received a Bachelor’s Degree in applied music from Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian; and in 1956, a Master’s Degree in music education from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
Sister Joan Liberty remembered some incidents from the years in Bad Axe. “There were 126 children in eight grades. We lived in a house like a paper box, but we were happy.” She recalled that there was a mouse in Sister Mary’s bedroom. It had been there for some time, and had resisted all efforts to capture it. She described their successful efforts in catching it, and putting it outside. She also spoke of Sister Mary’s ministry.
She was a wonderful musician, and her productions were really professional. They could have been taken to Broadway. She was also very bright, but she didn’t lord it over anyone. She had the music and the choir. She was very talented and very kind. She was happy and sociable, but she could be quiet and prayerful. She gave a lot to the students… She did a wonderful job, wherever she was.
In 1957 Sister Mary was sent to Des Moines, Iowa, as a teacher at St. Augustin School for three years. During those years she studied during the summers, and in 1960 earned a certificate in theology. She then returned to Michigan, and taught at St. Augustine in Detroit for a year.
St. Joseph in Bronxville, New York, was her next assignment for a year, but in 1962 she returned to St. Jude in Detroit for five years.
In 1967 she was assigned to Toledo, Ohio, where she taught at Blessed Sacrament School. She then returned to Detroit for two years at St. Scholastica.
She left the classroom in 1971, and began her ministry in religious education as Coordinator at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Melbourne, Florida. After two years, she spent a year as a graduate student at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and earned a second Master’s Degree, this time in religious education.
A year in Atlanta, Georgia, followed—as Religious Education Coordinator at Holy Cross Parish. She then moved to Englewood, Florida, and St. Raphael Parish, where she spent four years and also shared her musical talents. In her annals for that year she wrote as her goals:
To be constantly aware of the role which I am called to play in the parish and in the town community. (I am the only Catholic sister in the town of Englewood.). To be available to those who need me, even if their needs do not fit the pattern of my job description.
She wrote of losing the two priests with whom she had ministered, one to death and one to a leave of absence so that he could work for a time with the poor in a Third World Project.
A year at Incarnation in Tampa, and a year at St. Michael in Port Richey followed.
She returned to Michigan and spent a year at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Saginaw, then took a sabbatical year that she spent at Derham Residence in St. Paul, Minnesota. Upon completion of that year, she returned to Adrian and for thirteen years served as a driver for the sisters. She also was a member of the bell choir, helped with Red Cross and Salvation Army projects, and sometimes served as substitute organist.
In 1996 her health forced her into retirement, and she became a resident at the Dominican Life Center. There also, as long as she was able, she found ways to help. She assisted in delivering the mail to the sisters, visited them, talked and listened to them, and sometimes read the mail to those who had vision problems. At the wake, Sister Mary Louise Gass said:
I came as a driver shortly after she retired, and I drove her a few times. One time, when I was taking her somewhere, her comment was, “It’s much nicer to be driving than to be driven.” She liked giving more than receiving.
Through all these years, Sister Mary herself was not without illness. Sister Nancyann Turner, her previous Chapter Prioress, described her as “a wounded woman,” who needed treatment and hospitalization off and on through the years. She, however, still managed to serve God in teaching, religious education, and music.
Death came to Sister Mary on December 19, 2007.
Her wake-remembrance service was held on December 21 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Joan Sustersic, Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, opened the service and extended sympathy to Sister Mary’s relatives: her brother Joseph and his wife June, several nieces and nephews, and her many Dominican friends. Sister Joan summarized Sister Mary’s life and ministry, recalled her beautiful singing voice, and spoke of her last years.
As the years evolved, Sister Mary experienced a progressive memory loss. Eventually, she was neither able to sing or communicate. Even then, she was very loving and very courteous. There was always a “thank you,” and she always wanted to be close to people.
Patricia Maino, Sister Mary’s younger sister, was unable to be present, but she sent a fax that was read. She wrote in part:
Advent readings, particularly the poetic texts of Isaiah, paint magnificent images of God’s reign and the fulfillment of God’s plan of love for every person. How wonderful this is to know, as Sister Mary goes to her eternal reward, her first Christmas in Heaven.
I was seven years old when Doris, Sister Mary, left home to join the Dominicans Sisters in Adrian. Mary’s reception baffled me. I was always intrigued by the yards of material that she wore. It set me wondering about what was under the veil. I would pester her with questions, which she endured with love and patience.
During her declining years, I saw her infrequently. She seemed to be filled with gratitude for every act of kindness the sisters bestowed on her. Joe and June would keep me informed of how she mellowed as she neared the end of her time on this earth and was called to join her parents and four sisters, who welcomed her home. Surely I look forward to sharing eternity with her.
At the wake, Sister Celestine Dunne remembered :
I knew the Creightons very well. Pat and I grew up together. When the nuns came on their home visits, I would go over to their house. They would laugh and have the best time. I often think of that. Where did I get the idea of becoming a sister? I think they influenced my decision.
God took Sister Mary home a month before her eighty-eighth birthday. She had been in the Adrian Dominican Congregation for almost sixty-nine years. Her funeral was celebrated on December 22, 2007, and she was laid to rest in the Congregational cemetery.