Sister Mary DeVault
1930-2007

Sister Mary DeVault’s story is unusual. At her entrance into the Congregation in 1949, she was Mary Therese McCarthy. She left the Congregation twenty-seven years later, in 1976, and married Joseph DeVault who died within a few months. She was an associate for several years, and in 2004 she returned to the Congregation.

In her autobiography, Sister Mary tells us something about her lineage. Her parents were Julia (Franklin) and Joseph McCarthy, both of Irish ancestry. They were natives of Ohio, but after their marriage moved to Detroit and settled on the east side where their first two children, Julia and Joseph, Jr., were born. They moved to the west side of Detroit into St. Theresa Parish where Gervaise, John, Mary, and Jim added to the family. Mary was welcomed on July 16, 1930.

Both parents were strong Catholics. Julia McCarthy was a happy person, who often played the piano for her children. The children were impressed by their parents’ faith. They observed their mother’s attendance at daily Mass; they saw their father, a strong, quiet man, kneeling by his chair each morning to pray. Joseph McCarthy worked as a salesman, but these were the years of the Great Depression and he lost his job. He, however, found a better job at Hudson’s Department Store, where he worked for the balance of his active life. Sister Mary tells us that he often said, “A good salesman can always get a job.”

All of the McCarthy youngsters were educated at St. Theresa School with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Mary loved school. In her autobiography she listed several of her favorite teachers. A memorable occasion for her was playing Widow Douglas in the high school dramatic production “Tom Sawyer.”  She graduated from high school in June 1948 and registered at Marygrove College but did not attend. A good job was offered to her, and she took it.

Mary’s older sister Julia had entered the Adrian Dominicans in 1939 and was known as Sister Fides. The family looked forward to her home visits every three years. Thoughts of the religious life were also in Mary’s mind. She was dating a young man who wanted to marry her and was tempted to accept a ring from him, but she decided that she had to find out if God was calling her. After a year of work, she entered the postulate at Adrian on June 29, 1949. During her postulate she became sure of her vocation.

On December 29, 1949, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, she received the habit and her religious name (Sister Mary Julita). The required canonical novitiate year followed, and she professed her first vows on December 28, 1950.

Almost immediately she was in a car bound for Ypsilanti, Michigan, where she taught middle grade students at St. John the Baptist School for over six years. In July 1956 she received a bachelor’s degree from Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian with a major in Latin and minors in history and English. In fall 1956 she was sent to St. Joseph School in Bronxville, New York, as a first grade teacher. It was during this time that her mother died. In her autobiography she wrote, “This was a hard, but wonderful, time.”

She began her high school ministry in 1960 at St. Paul in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where she taught English, Latin, history, and religion, and her students won in the Latin contests. She had been studying at Siena Heights during the summers, and in August 1962 she was awarded a Master’s Degree in Education.

In 1963 she received what she described as “the shock of my life.” She was assigned as superior and principal at Dominican High School in Detroit. She felt inadequate, but obviously did a good job recognized not only by the Dominican High sisters but by sisters in other areas. Diane Moro DeVeau, a student at Dominican High at that time, said, “I was in the Class of 1966. The people in Detroit called those the ‘glory years.’ Dominican High School was topnotch at that time. I felt that I was lucky to be there!”

These were difficult years—years that ushered in great changes in religious life. Mother Genevieve Weber asked Sister Mary to become a member of a group to study in preparation for the writing of new Constitutions. Sister Mary led some discussion groups, and could feel some opposition because of her youth (she was in the middle thirties) from some of the sisters. Also, she served on the Committee on Economics.

At the 1968 General Chapter, she was elected to the General Council. She wrote, “I did not know Sister Lawrence Edward [Sister Rosemary Ferguson, who was elected Prioress], but as I shook her hand I recognized her as a great leader.”

In her autobiography she listed several of the responsibilities that she carried out during her term as a General Counselor. Among them were: establishing the Office for Mission and Ministry, encouraging weekend retreats for teachers, creating the Adrian Dominican School System, being instrumental in starting the African missions, and sending four sisters to earn Master of Divinity degrees. In the midst of all this work, she again experienced opposition from some of the sisters. She wrote, “This was a factor in my eventual leaving.” It was also during this time, in 1972, that her father died. At the wake, Sister Anthonita Porta said:

In the early years of our religious life, we would talk education and dream about someday having a Montessori School, but it didn’t come about for seventeen years. It was when she was elected to the General Council that she saw something in me that I didn’t know was there, and she sent me on to study and get my degree. Then we opened up the Montessori School.

Sister Joan Delaplane also remembered those years:

On the evening of February 23, 1973, Adrian was calling. At the end of the line was Sister Mary Therese. We had entered together. She said, “I wonder if you would be interested in going to the seminary to study with the possibility of being ordained a priest.”… I was…  She said, “Until we have women ready and willing, the Church will not take us seriously.” She was beyond her time. She changed my life.

Sister Mary Pat Dewey said:

SisterMary is the one responsible for the Congregation’s commitment to the African Continent. In the early 1970s she and Sister Eleanor Stech made an extended pilgrimage to Africa. …They met with bishops and members of religious orders to discern ways in which our sisters might serve the people of Africa. … Our ministry on the African Continent has spanned over thirty years in several countries, and would never have happened without Sister Mary’s Vision of Mission.

Sister Rosemary Ferguson, who was Prioress of the Congregation during those years, also shared remembrances:

I speak for a group of women who came together in 1968, working and living together. We’ve been friends ever since. Sister Mary was thirty-seven years old, and knew little about running a Congregation, nor did the rest of us. She had a most unusual spirituality. . . . It came from her inner self—from deep within… God spoke to her in a unique and sharp way, and she listened. She had a profound sense of focus on the spiritual life and she never lost it.

At the Chapter of 1974, Sister Mary decided to take her name off the slate for reelection. Instead, with Sister Rosemary Ferguson’s encouragement, when the Chapter was over she began study at the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago. After a year, she transferred to the Chicago Theological Union and began work on a Master’s degree that she received in 1976. There she met Joseph DeVault, S.J. They worked on committees together, became close, in September 1976 obtained dispensations, and married. She wrote of their marriage: “We were married on February 5, [1977]. Joe died on July 17. We had rich conversations in our home, and we enjoyed our six months together.” This is all she wrote about her marriage, but some of her friends emphasized the deep sorrow that filled her life at the time of her husband’s death.

Overcoming her grief, Mary accepted a position at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. She wrote, “I feel that my spiritual life thrived there.” Dr. David Daniels, currently Professor of Church History at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, was also there. At the wake he said:

She was the chair of the department. She was the first woman to be the chair… Whenever one of my classes didn’t go well, I’d meet with her. She was always available. She’d hear what I thought went wrong and how she could correct it, and she was always instructive. She connected well with the students, the young women especially.

I’m a Protestant, but I was ordained and I struggled with whether I should take a vow of celibacy. I talked to her about it… Her discerning conversation made me realize that there was a woman I loved, and I’ve been married to her for twenty-two years.

After nine years at Exeter, at the invitation of her brother Sister Mary moved to Florida and became principal at St. James School in Orlando. Her sister, Sister Julia, also accepted a position there as Director of Religious Education. At Sister Mary’s request, Sister Anthonita assisted her in starting a Montessori School.

Nine years later, Mary left St. James, and helped to begin a new high school in Ocala. Then in 1999 she was asked to become principal of Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach. She and Sister Julia were living together, and Sister Anthonita visited and helped to begin a Montessori School. In 1996 Mary had become an Adrian Dominican Associate. Her life almost paralleled that of a religious sister.

The first two years at Rosarian were fine. Then she became ill and suffered a stroke. She wrote, “The myeloma might have begun at this time.” She resigned the principalship, and left Rosarian in 2003. About these years Sister Corinne Sanders wrote:

Mary’s leadership and vision were critical in leading Rosarian into the future as a Catholic independent school of excellence… When she announced her retirement from Rosarian, I felt as though my wisdom figure was leaving me. She hired me to Rosarian. I so admired her presence, her thoughtfulness, her kindness, and her strength.

In the early 2000s, desirous of reentering the Congregation, Mary contacted Sister Janet Capone, who was Prioress at this time. She also talked with Sister Kathleen McGrail, a Counselor, and Sister Ellen Burkhardt in the Formation Office. In April 2004 she and Sister Julia moved to Adrian, and lived together in an off-campus apartment. At that time, Mary was readmitted to the Congregation. After a few months, she became ill again, this time with cancer, diagnosed as multiple myeloma, and Sister Donna Markham, who had been elected Prioress at the February 2004 General Chapter, allowed her to make final profession on her birthday, July 16, 2004. Sister Mary recovered somewhat from that attack, but in 2005 she suffered another crisis and moved into the Dominican Life Center/Maria where she lived until her death on August 23, 2007.

On August 26 a wake-remembrance service was held for Sister Mary in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Mary Sue Kennedy, Prioress of Adrian Crossroads Mission Chapter, welcomed those who had come to bid her farewell: her sister, Sister Julia, several nieces and nephews, and many Dominican friends. She summarized Sister Mary’s life and ministry, and spoke of her last days.

While she struggled with chemo and changing health, Sister Mary brought her joy and contemplative spirit to all around her. … A couple of months ago, she made the decision to become part of hospice and was so grateful for the many ways she was helped by the wonderful women, nurses and social workers, who came to be with her. A few short weeks ago she made the decision not to have further blood transfusions, and knew that this meant her life would be coming to an end.

Sister Mary’s niece, Catherine O’Connell, a graduate of Barry College (now University) in Miami Beach, Florida, spoke for the family. She said in part:

I asked Aunt Judy to tell me about Aunt Mary. Aunt Judy said, “Mary was so full of life and love, so full of the joy of the Spirit. She really spoke the Word of God in her life.” How? I asked. Aunt Judy replied, “In her happiness and everything she did. She just exploded with joy. Life was a gift to her. She was so very kind… in keeping with the spirit of our parents.

My dad, John McCarthy, is unable to be here. … He and Mary were close, just a year apart. Dad said they were like twins when they were young.

I remember Aunt Mary’s smile and enthusiastic greeting. I admired her. In my book, she was a trail blazer in many areas of life, especially as it related to women in our society… She was a shining light.

Sister Mary’s funeral was celebrated on August 27. After the beautiful liturgy, her body was laid to rest in the Congregational cemetery.