Sister Loretta Ann Walsh
1921-2007
When Sister Loretta Ann celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2001, a large picture of her appeared on the front page of the Michigan Catholic of May 18, together with some of her words:
Celebrating sixty years of religious life is like a miracle of God's infinite, boundless graces. Teaching children and fulfilling a variety of mission endeavors, both here and abroad, as well as increasing daily, spiritual growth in religious living, has been a rewarding experience for me.
On March 7, 1921, their second child, a daughter, was born to Redmond William and Loretta Mae (Riley) Walsh, and baptized Loretta Ann. She was, however, called Ann by her family to prevent confusion, since both she and her mother were "Loretta." She was welcomed by her brother John. The family lived in Detroit, and soon two more children came into the family, Rosemary and Evalyn. German and Irish blood mingled in the children's veins. Their father's heritage was German, and their mother's, Irish.
Both parents were natives of Owosso, Michigan. They had met and married in Owosso, but later moved to Detroit where Redmond Walsh worked for the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and provided a good life for his family. Both parents were dedicated Catholics, and active members of Annunciation Parish, where they settled at first. Soon, however, they moved into St. Theresa Parish, where their children attended school with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. It was there that the idea of becoming a Dominican sister first entered into Ann's mind. She was in the fourth grade, and was inspired by her young teacher, Sister John Catherine Mulroyan. It was there, also, that she began her five-and-a-half-year study of piano.
In 1933 the family moved into St. Brigid Parish, and the children attended the parish school, again taught by the Adrian Dominicans. The idea of becoming a Dominican sister was still in Ann's mind, reinforced by the encouragement of the principal, Sister Grace Marie Westhoven, and by the fact that four of her friends were also thinking of becoming Dominicans. The idea persisted even though Ann attended St. Cecilia High School with the IHM Sisters, and was strengthened when she learned of Sister John Catherine's death in 1937, and attended the wake and funeral.
Ann graduated with her class in June 1939. Within a short time her four friends entered the postulate at Adrian, but Ann's parents asked her to attend college before she took that step. As a result, she registered at Marygrove College, and spent a year there. At the end of that time, she was still determined to enter the Adrian Congregation, so her parents consented. Ann was one of the eighteen girls who entered the postulate at Adrian on June 30, 1940.
On January 7, 1941, the group (now numbering fifteen) received the habit and their religious names. Her father suggested that she ask for her baptismal name, since she had always been known by her middle name, and she did so. Her request was granted, and she became "Sister Loretta Ann." The group had also agreed that each member would recall one of the mysteries of the Rosary, so Ann took the fifth Sorrowful Mystery, which, she wrote in her short, third-person autobiography, "has been a constant reminder of her suffering, compassionate Spouse to whom she owes her life of service." She and her group professed their first vows on January 8, 1942.
Sister Loretta Ann's sister Evalyn entered a few years later, but left after a year or so. She later married Joseph Mullen, brother of Sister Ann Regina Mullen. In 1946, Sister Loretta Ann's cousin, Patricia Riley, also entered and became known as Sister Anne Charlotte until the 1970s.
Beginning with 1942, the first five years of Sister Loretta Ann's ministry were in Illinois: a year-and-a-half at St. Philip Neri in Chicago, where she gave music lessons, and four years at St. James in Maywood where she taught in the middle grades, as well as served as musician. She returned to Michigan for a year at St. Joseph in Wyandotte as fourth grade teacher and musician, then was assigned for two years to St. Patrick in Joliet, Illinois, again with fourth graders and as musician.
In 1950 she traveled to Guayama, Puerto Rico, where she taught eighth grade and served as musician at St. Anthony School for two years. She wrote, "Learning the Spanish language by rote . . . was quite a challenge . . . as well as playing daily Latin Masses sung by the high school students." The next year she was transferred to the Dominican Republic and lived with the sisters at San Juan de la Maguana in Las Matas, while teaching catechism in a rural area. About this assignment she wrote, "Preparing children for their First Holy Communion and Confession, assisting the needs of the poor, and arranging festive programs was a procedure for two sisters." She described this time in the islands as "memorable experiences that are often recalled through the years."
She returned to Michigan in 1953 as a middle grade teacher at St. Paul in Grosse Pointe for two years. The death of her sister Rosemary in 1955 brought a period of sadness to her and the rest of the family. That same year she was transferred to St. Philomena in Detroit. Five years later she taught third grade at St. Basil in East Detroit, and then spent three years at Blessed Sacrament in Toledo, Ohio. A member of her profession group, Sister Anne Marie Snyder, at that time suffering from extreme arthritis, was also missioned there. At the wake, she said:
She was a caring compassionate woman. This was at a time when I was physically unable to care for myself, even my personal needs. She willingly assisted me in getting dressed, and even helped me brush my teeth each morning. She also extended her loving kindness to my night care.
Beginning with 1964 Sister Loretta Ann served three years at St. Mary in St. Clair, Michigan, and a year St. Jude in Detroit. The next year she was assigned to St. Joseph in Port Huron, where she spent seven years. She and her siblings lost both parents during these years: her father of leukemia in 1958 and her mother of a heart attack in 1973. She also lost her brother John, who died of cancer.
In 1975 she heard that the sisters in the cloistered monastery in Farmington, Michigan, were looking for someone to help with a cancer research program that was directed by a Columbus Dominican, Sister Arline Schmeer. Sister Loretta Ann applied to help with the project, and was accepted. Sister Arline carried on her research at the American Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, and Sister Loretta Ann, volunteer co-chairperson for Sister Arline's cancer research (a responsibility shared with a laywoman in Warren), worked from her small office in Farmington Hills at raising money and publicizing the program. She also helped to organize a group of women to promote the program in Detroit. When Sister Arline visited Farmington, Sister Loretta Ann made arrangements for her to meet cancer researchers in the area, and to appear on three television programs.
A write-up from a paper of that time described the program, Sister Loretta Ann's part in it, and displayed her picture, taken in her office.
The lowly Merceraria clam, Littleneck, Cherrystone, and Quahog, has been found by Sister Arline to contain an active anti-cancer agent. This discovery has been documented and publicly confirmed by medical doctors at major research institutions… The problem is money. The National Institutes of Health has told Sister Arline that they can't give her financial aid until she can purify the anti-cancer material and prove its uniqueness. But it takes time and money to get to that point.
The anti-cancer benefits are obtained by eating raw clams, in addition to medication and a good diet. Since Sister Loretta Ann left this ministry after a year, there is nothing in her file to show what the future results of this research were.
Next, in 1976, Sister Loretta Ann was asked by the Blue Army of Fatima, a group that fosters devotion to Mary and operates from the Marian Center in Southwest Detroit, to serve as Youth Director, planning programs at the Center and serving as counselor for those who made pilgrimages to Fatima. She wrote:
Many of the youth have discovered their vocations to the priesthood and religious life. They gained much spiritual enlightenment from their daily devotions and experiences through the pilgrimages.
At the wake, Sister Declan Foss spoke of this time.
A certain Father Fox was the chaplain of the Blue Army in Detroit. Besides many activities that the Blue Army sponsored, they (Sister Loretta Ann and Father Fox) took teenagers to Portugal—to Fatima… They made these trips to Fatima fourteen times, that is, during fourteen summers [1975-1989].
After seven years of this ministry, in 1983 Sister Loretta Ann became a counselor for Crossroads East in Detroit, a social service unit that serves the poor, and in 1985 spent a year as Director of Religious Education at Sacred Heart Parish in Springfield, Missouri. During the summers, she continued assisting the Blue Army with the trips to Fatima.
Sister Anne Marie Snyder, a good friend and also a member of her profession group, remembered:
When I was missioned in Cleveland, on the anniversary of our profession, Sister called to tell me that she would be at the Cleveland Airport for two hours, changing planes on her way to Fatima with a tour group. We met and had lunch together. She was overjoyed that we could meet on our anniversary of profession, and her enthusiasm and joy, expressed several times, were noticed by a gentleman sitting near us. When we were ready for the bill, we were told that it was taken care of as our anniversary gift.
In 1986 Sister Loretta Ann returned to Michigan as a driver for the cloistered sisters at Blessed Sacrament Monastery in Farmington Hills, a position that she held for fourteen years. Until 1989, during the summers, she continued assisting with the groups of young people on pilgrimage to Fatima.
She retired in 2000, and lived for a year in a private residence in Farmington Hills, volunteering her services as a Eucharistic minister at a local hospital; four years in Our Lady of Refuge Convent in Orchard Lake; and a year at Lourdes Convent in Waterford, helping at the Oxford Dominicans' nursing home.
She returned to Adrian in October 2006, and lived in the Maria Building of the Dominican Life Center, where she assisted her cousin, Sister Patricia Riley. After sixty-five years of ministry as an Adrian Dominican sister, Sister Loretta Ann embraced death on November 17, 2007.
Sister Loretta Ann's wake-remembrance service took place in St. Catherine Chapel on November 19. Sister Joan Sustersic, Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, opened the service, and extended welcome and condolences to those who had gathered to honor Sister Loretta Ann: Evalyn Mullen, her sister; Sister Patricia Riley, her cousin; several nieces and nephews, and her many Dominican friends. Sister Joan summarized Sister Loretta Ann's life and ministry, and spoke of the past few months in Adrian:
She was quite independent and was of assistance to many in distributing mail, driving sisters to appointments, etc. She had been in the peak of health all of her eighty-six years. However, on October 10, 2007, we noticed that she had become jaundiced. After visits to doctors and procedures, she received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer… Treatments were not recommended, and the oncologist suggested that we involve Hospice. Throughout her ordeal, she denied any pain. She did admit that she was suffering a loss of energy, and as that loss intensified she was confined to bed… The nurses, nursing assistants, and hospice staff took wonderful care of her. Her death took many by surprise, as she had, indeed, never been sick.
Sister Mary Declan Foss spoke of Sister Loretta Ann as a fervent religious, who fasted every Friday and abstained from fruit at breakfast on Saturday.
Sister Anne Marie Snyder told those assembled of Sister Loretta Ann's love for her "crowd," and the gifts she brought those in Adrian when she visited or came to Adrian for a funeral.
When she came here to live, she was a Eucharistic minister, a lector, or served in any way she could. Her hands were always open. She read the intentions before Mass, and I encouraged her as she did me.
Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, was the presider and homilist at Sister Loretta Ann's funeral liturgy on November 20. Among his remarks, Father said:
About a week ago, I talked to Sister Loretta Ann. She realized that the final stage of her life had arrived, and she expressed her surprise at how swift it had been… She quoted the words about not knowing the day or hour, which Jesus emphasized. When I returned last Thursday for the anointing, her decline was evident. Death remains the awesome mystery that the ancients talked about, but it is also the one most certain fact for each of us. Sister Loretta Ann understood that and talked of her dependence on God. She had the gift of perseverance, staying close to God each day in prayer and service.
At the age of eighty-six Sister Loretta Ann went home to God. She had completed her work here, and now, in eternity, enjoys peace with the Lord and with the loved ones who preceded her.