Sister Mary Lequier
1936-2009

On September 8, the day celebrated as the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday, their third child, a daughter, was born to Joseph and Mary (Boka) Lequier. They christened her Mary Elizabeth. Two sons had preceded her, and the three sons who followed her completed the family. As they grew up, Mary became a second mother to her younger brothers.

Joseph Lequier was from Hancock in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When his father left the family, his mother raised her children until she suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to a mental institution. Joseph went to Detroit and worked to raise enough money to bring his four siblings there also. He later met and married Mary Boka, who belonged to the Greek Orthodox faith and had grown up in Romania. When she was ten years old, the family immigrated to the United States. The father of the family left them, returned to Romania, and they never saw him again.

After their marriage, Joseph and Mary Lequier settled in Royal Oak, Michigan, where Joseph Lequier built a home for them. At the wake, Sister Mary Priniski described the home.

It was a small two-bedroom bungalow with an attic. The five brothers lived in the attic and Mary, the only girl, had the small bedroom. Each year they winterized the house by crawling under it and wrapping the pipes with paper. It was not a job only for the boys; Mary did her part in pipe-wrapping as well.

At the wake, Tom Lequier, Sister Mary’s brother, spoke of those years.

My mother’s name was Mary. There were a lot of kids in our neighborhood named Mary. We called my sister “Little Mary.” Every one of us, when we were growing up, had the objective of being as tall, or taller than, “Little Mary.” . . . When we got to the stage where we thought we were bigger than her, she made us feel that was really true—made it so special that we were growing up.

The family lived in St. Mary Parish, and the Lequier youngsters attended St. Mary School, taught by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, through high school. Mary was a good student, and she received her high school diploma in June 1955. Within a few weeks, on June 25, she became a postulant in Adrian.

With her group, on December 27, 1955, she received the habit and her religious name (Sister Anne Immaculate). She professed her first vows on December 28, 1956. For the last semester of that school year, she was a full-time student at Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian.

In August 1957 she was on her way to St. Francis Xavier School in Medina, Ohio, where she taught primary children for five years. A humorous incident occurred during May of one year. She had sent the children home with the request that they get a canopy for the May altar. One boy asked his mother for a “can of peas” to take to school the next day. The mother had no peas, so she gave him a can of corn to take to school.

When she left in 1962, the balance of Sister Mary’s teaching ministry was in Michigan. After spending a year at St. Lawrence in Utica, she was appointed elementary principal at three different schools: at St. Paul in Owosso for six years, at Queen of the Miraculous Medal in Jackson for two years, and at Resurrection in Lansing for a year. It was also during those years, as a result of summer study, that she received her bachelor’s degree from Siena Heights College in August 1963 with a major in home economics and minors in English and biology.

When she left Resurrection in 1972, she became manager of the credit union at Christo Rey Community Center, also in Lansing, then again returned to St. Paul in Owosso for four years as principal of the elementary school, and also as a member of the parish team. During this time the Congregation invited the sisters to an immersion experience in South Carolina. Sister Mary, with a number of other sisters, spent the summer in South Carolina and visited several different areas. She was struck by the poverty she witnessed among the rural people.

In 1977 she and Sister Carol Dulka moved to Ridgeville in Dorchester County, South Carolina, and began their ministry, a ministry that lasted for over thirty years. Much of it was among the Edisto Indians. When they celebrated their twentieth anniversary in the area, an article in The New Catholic Miscellany for April 4, 1997, described their work:

For twenty years, two tiny women from snow country have had a big impact on people who live on the sand hills and swamps of lower South Carolina. The Adrian Dominican sisters are home-based among the Edisto Indians in Ridgeville. . . . Sister Carol Dulka and Sister Mary Lequier spend their days and nights driving the dirt roads of the rural areas of Dorchester and Berkeley Counties and ministering to Native Americans, African Americans, the elderly, the sick, and the homebound. They tutor children whose homes contain no books, they teach adult education, they draw people up from depression, and they brighten the lives of hundreds of lonely people with little gifts and remembrances.

The sisters were also very active in St. Theresa Parish in Summerville. The pastor, Father David Schiller, said, “They go wherever people have the disease of poverty.” When they came to South Carolina they found “malnourished elderly Indians and poorly educated blacks mired in ignorance and ennui.” The sisters knew that they could not affect many people at a time—they had to affect one person at a time. “That one person grew into two, then four, until today there are literally thousands who have been touched by the two diminutive sisters.” Most of these people were not Catholic, but that made no difference to the sisters.

Another article in The Summerville Journal Scene also described their ministry. It listed two feeding stations, an education center in the Indian area of Ridgeville, literacy and basic education classes, collecting books for poor children, alcohol and drug abuse prevention. St. Theresa Parish and St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in Summerville helped fund their work.

They had been using a 1985 Toyota van which was in very poor condition. The people of St. Theresa organized a fundraiser and purchased a new van which was given to them at the anniversary party held for them on August 18. Besides the van, the sisters received the Papal Blessing and the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest award. It was presented to them by the Edisto Indians. Over the years, they received many tributes and awards.

The Edisto Indians had lost their identity as a tribe, as well as their culture and language. The sisters were instrumental in bringing all three back. The Indians loved them. They gave the sisters Indian names and made them members of the tribe. Their work among the Edisto Indians was recognized in an article in The Post and Courier of March 19, 1999.

Turtle Bear Woman and Protector of the Animals are benefactors of the Kusso-Natchez. They appeared one day in the 700-person Native American community outside Ridgeville. They helped bring the community a medical clinic, senior meals, housing, drop-out prevention, adult education, and the Edisto Indian Cultural Festival. They’re not myths. They’re Roman Catholic nuns.

Sister Mary took a sabbatical year in 1988-89, during which she attended the University of California in Berkeley, studying theology. She then returned to Ridgeville and continued her ministry until December 2007, when she and Sister Carol became staff directors at Sea of Peace House of Prayer on Edisto Island. They left this ministry in February 2009, and continued their work among the poor in Dorchester County. During these years she lost family members. Her father died in 1990; and her mother, as well as one of her brothers, died in 1995. She returned to Adrian in September 2009, where death came to her on December 5, 2009.

Her wake-remembrance service was held on December 7 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Mary Priniski, Prioress of the Mid-Atlantic Mission Chapter, opened the service. She welcomed those who had come to bid Sister Mary farewell. Her brother George could not be present, but Tom and his wife Carole, David, and Bob had come. Also present were a great number of nieces and nephews; and her many Dominican friends. After summarizing Sister Mary’s life and ministry, Sister Mary Priniski added:

In July, Sister Mary began having pain in her back. It was discovered through an MRI that she had either a cyst or a tumor on her back. It turned out to be an infection that was antibiotic-resistant. After surgery, she returned home to Adrian for rehab. However, the infection did not go away. The past several months have been filled with pain and anxiety for her. But she never let go of her spirit of joy.

Sister Anneliese Sinnott spoke in praise of Sister Mary.

Sister Mary was a true daughter of St. Dominic. She was a kind, sweet, gentle person, always smiling. She was also a wonderful cook, and she loved baseball. Though short of stature, she was big in thoughtfulness of others.

I was struck by some of the words we sang here tonight: “Mary, source of holy wisdom; Mary, woman of the gospel; help us to be true disciples, bearing fruit in word and deed.” Although we were singing to the Blessed Virgin, those words also describe Sister Mary Lequier.

Sister Susan Elaine Kresse told a rather humorous story of how Sisters Mary and Carol took care of her cat while she was away for a week. “They came to my house, stayed in my bedroom, and took care of my cat for that week. I thought it was wonderful of them to do that!”

Sister Frances Ellen Bowery also shared. “Sister Mary was a prime example of God’s love. She showed that love in every breath of her life. She was truly what Jesus called a friend.”

She spoke of meeting and speaking with her at the Chapter assemblies over the years. And of her wonderful brothers, whom she had met during the past week or so.

Tom Lequier, Sister Mary’s brother, spoke.

Most of the stories I had prepared, I’ve forgotten. I’m so emotional tonight. It’s so touching to find people who really knew and loved my sister Mary as we do.

He told a humorous story. His son Bill wanted a dog, and they had chosen one for him from puppies born to a neighbor’s dog. Sister Mary and Tom went to the neighbor’s property to get the puppy. It was dark and the puppies were under the porch. Sister Mary crawled under the porch and retrieved the puppy. She was sure that it was the right one, but Tom wasn’t so sure. “However, Mary loved him, and she was sure she picked the right one.”

Carole Lequier, Tom’s wife, went to the podium.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you what a blessing she has been to this family. When they were growing up, she kept her brothers in line, and through the years we made poor choices but she never once said, “You’re doing something wrong.” She just prayed for us all. She and I were good friends. Sometimes we watched movies together. She cried easily. If it was a sad movie, she would shed some tears. She had such a big heart. . . . She was a saint while she was on this earth, and now she’s a saint in heaven. We surely will miss her.

Tim Lequier, Sister Mary’s nephew, spoke of promising to visit Sister Mary in South Carolina, but never getting around to it. “The only one that’s depriving others of our presence is ourselves.” He expressed thanks for the love, prayers, and support received from the sisters.

Sister Mary’s funeral liturgy was celebrated on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. Father Robert Kelly was the presider and homilist. He spoke of the popular pastime of the 1950s, “Paint by Number.” The areas in the picture were numbered, as well as the colors of paint. The color of paint with a certain number was used to paint the area with the same number. He likened this painting game to the picture of salvation that all of us paint while on earth.

None of us has finished our paint by number picture of salvation except for Sister Mary. What does her picture look like? Well, I would venture to say that the outer blue line is in the shape of South Carolina. The smaller numbered areas are grouped to show the beauty of God’s creation. The smallest and most numerous of the numbered areas are the faces of her parents, brothers, and their families, the faces of the people whom she cared for . . . and a few cats and dogs as well.

Now, I believe we Dominicans turn in our pictures of salvation to Fra Angelico when we enter the gates of heaven. And there, like in an art museum, they are carefully hung so that people who remain on earth are given a life to remember and an example to follow. Looking at the pictures of salvation we learn that beauty is in the pictures. Beauty is in the work it took to paint them. Beauty is in the artist, never forgotten.

Sister Mary will not be forgotten. She will live on in the memories of the people who benefited from her ministry.