Sister Elizabeth Clare Schindler
1924-2009
In one of her autobiography’s ending paragraphs, Sister Elizabeth Clare wrote:
I have never been sorry that I decided to become an Adrian Dominican. I love this Congregation, and am so grateful for all of the blessings that have come to me. I have been called to do many things that I did not think I could do. . . . Only by the grace of God!
At the funeral, Sister Nadine Foley described her as “a real community woman, a real school woman, principled, fiercely dedicated, kind, conscientious, a woman of sound judgment, an educator par excellence, a ‘take charge’ person.” She referred to Sister Elizabeth Clare’s life as a “homily calling us back to essential values . . . and the way she lived them with integrity and responsibility.”
Education was her first love. . . . When she moved from one place to another, she left behind a train of grateful colleagues, friends, church administrators, and admirers. There are many today across the country mourning her loss.
The daughter of John and Elizabeth (Weimar) Schindler, Sister Elizabeth Clare had two older brothers, Ed and Francis. The second birth was a difficult one, and Elizabeth Schindler was told by the doctor that she would not be able to have more children. Nevertheless, eleven years later her daughter Elizabeth Clare, fondly called Betty, was born; and almost five years later the last child, the future Sister Elizabeth Clare, popularly known as Sister “E Clare,” came into the family on December 3, 1924. Sister wrote, “My mother always said, ‘The doctors don’t know everything!’” Her mother wanted to name her youngest child “Catherine Marie,” but her father wanted “Florence Marie,” and his wishes prevailed.
Sister Elizabeth Clare’s maternal ancestors were originally from Ireland. When they came to the United States, they settled in Illinois, eventually finding their way to Chicago. Her mother’s aunt was one of the first policewomen on the Chicago Police Force, and later earned a law degree, magna cum laude, from De Paul University. Sister’s paternal ancestry was mainly German. John Schindler had become estranged from his family after his mother’s death and his father’s remarriage. John did not like his stepmother. He left home and lived with his mother’s family, so Sister Elizabeth Clare knew little about her father’s side of the family.
Her father was a molder by trade, and was knowledgeable about running a foundry. After managing the opening of two or three plants, he decided to open his own foundry. Shortly after purchasing a home in St. Clare of Montefalco Parish, he died in 1926 as the result of an operation. Elizabeth Schindler was left to care for two teen-age boys, a five-year-old daughter, and a fifteen-month-old baby.
Ed, an apprentice at the foundry, continued there after recovering from depression caused by his father’s death and loss of the foundry, and Francis dropped out of school to help support the family. The mother decided to use the available finances to pay off the mortgage on the home. This saved the family from losing the money in the bank failure of 1929. Sister described their happy, loving home. The two older brothers were working, but they always had their evening meal together, even though it meant waiting for Ed. “Without the evening meal together, I would have lost a wonderful opportunity to know and appreciate my brothers.”
Florence and Betty attended St. Clare Parish School for their elementary education. Betty was a good student and had won a scholarship to Aquinas High School, from which she graduated in 1938. That year Florence was starting high school, and her great desire was to attend Aquinas, although there was a public high school nearby. Attendance at Aquinas meant a long ride on a bus and two streetcars. She didn’t have a scholarship and the family could not afford the tuition, so arrangements were made for her to work in the cafeteria each noon and clean the science labs after school. “I owe all of my education to the kindness of Adrian Dominicans!” Her education included business courses; and, although she had taken no music lessons, she played the viola in the school orchestra. “It was the perfect extracurricular activity for me!”
She graduated in 1942. These were the years of World War II. Ed had married, and Francis was overseas in the Army. Although Florence had expressed her wish to become an Adrian Dominican, she knew that she had to stay home for a while and help with family finances. For six months she worked as a stenographer, then for almost a year in the Chicago office of the United States Army.
On January 2, 1944, she and Anna Rita Sullivan (the future Sister Joanne Marie) traveled by train to Adrian. When they arrived, they took a taxi. The driver thought that they were going to the girls’ training school, and took them there. When they finally reached the Motherhouse at about eleven o’clock that night, all the lights were on. They discovered, however, that this was not in their honor. The sisters were awaiting a priest to say the funeral Mass the next day for one of their number who had died.
The two young women were received into the postulate on January 3. Within a short time Florence was assigned to work with Sister Bertha Homminga in the Registrar’s Office of Siena Heights College (now University). On August 17, 1944, the two began their novitiate with the reception of the habit and their religious names, and professed their first vows on August 18, 1945. Almost immediately after profession, Sister Elizabeth Clare was in a car headed for St. Dominic Convent in Detroit. There for four-and-a-half years she taught all the grades from two to six. In January 1950 she was changed, and assigned as a student at Siena Heights College (now University) to finish her bachelor’s degree. In August 1950, the College awarded her the degree with a major in mathematics and minor in education.
She spent the next nine years in California, three years at St. Louis Bertrand in Oakland and six years as superior and principal at St. Brendan in San Francisco. During the summers she attended the University of California and in 1956 received a master’s degree with a major in education. When her successful administrative term at St. Brendan ended, she was brought back to the Midwest and taught math, science, and religion at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois, for two years.
In 1961 she was again assigned to St. Brendan in San Francisco, where she lived and ministered for the Archdiocese as Supervisor of Elementary Schools for six years. She was then transferred to Des Moines, Iowa. There she served the Diocesan Office as elementary consultant for five years and as Superintendent of Schools for four years. In 1973 she was awarded a second master’s degree by Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with a major in educational administration, and also was certified as Superintendent of Schools. During this time, in 1975, her mother died of pneumonia at the age of ninety-one. “Her death was difficult for all of us, and had a very deep effect on me.”
Sister Elizabeth Clare was elected Provincial of St. Dominic Province in 1976, with her office at Our Lady of Loretto in Hometown, Illinois, also known as St. Dominic Provincial House. When the new government structure was put into effect in 1982, she returned to California and served as principal for seven years at St. Mary Star of the Sea School in Oceanside.
For nine years, from 1989 to 1998, she was coordinator of housing for the Congregation in Adrian. Sister Sharon Weber said:
I believe she chose to take on congregational housing because of people—namely, her Adrian Dominican Sisters. She used her talents to help the housing commission struggle with the questions involved in establishing policies and procedures related to housing. She helped our sisters find living accommodations. She facilitated their living situations so that in their ministries they could “be with others, bearers and recipients of Christ’s love, co-creators of his justice and peace.”
When Sister Elizabeth Clare left that office, she volunteered her services for a year, then spent seven years on the Congregational Finance Office staff. She also served on the Renovation Committees for Holy Rosary and St. Catherine Chapels. In 2006 she retired. She had been living in the Dominican Life Center/Regina Residence; but in December 2007, suffering from a lung condition that required oxygen, she found it necessary to move into the Maria Building. God took her to eternity on January 24, 2009. She was eighty-four years of age and in her sixty-fourth year of serving God as a Dominican Sister.
Sister Elizabeth Clare’s wake-remembrance service took place on January 27 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Mary Ellen Youngblood summarized Sister Elizabeth Clare’s life and ministry. She spoke of Sister Elizabeth Clare’s last days:
In illness, Sister E Clare remained in control as much as possible. She researched her condition, asked questions, and steadfastly insisted on straightforward answers. . . . Last Thursday Sister E Clare and I met with the hospice workers and began using their services. This steadfast woman entered into the dying process with the same determination that governed her life.
Three members of the Finance Office staff spoke: Director Sara Neuman, Janine Zimmerman, and Sue Thorpe. Sara said:
Sister E Clare did her work in the office very well and everyone enjoyed working with her, most of all for her genuine kindness and interest . . . [which] formed very close, tight friendships between all the office staff members and her. . . . I came to the Finance Office in 2002 and she, along with Sister Connie Kelly, helped me to become quickly acquainted with the Congregation. . . . Sister E Clare was one of the first people to ever hold my newborn son. From that day forward, she adored him and enjoyed watching him grow.
Janine and Sue spoke of Sister Elizabeth Clare’s interest, not only in the staff, but in their families; and their enjoyment in getting together for staff lunches. Their sincerity was moving as they spoke of how much they will miss her.
Sister Catharina Bereiter, a member of Sister Elizabeth Clare’s profession group, also spoke.
More than half of us have now gone on, leaving just six still practicing the flight we started as perky, fledgling blackbirds sixty-five years ago. . . . It was always good when we could get together—such as for our Jubilees.
Sister Barbara Stanek sent a message that Sister Rosemary Abramovich read. She thanked Sister Elizabeth Clare for “giving me the gift of your wisdom, the gift of always listening, for laughing with me and sharing my tears, for celebrating the ups and downs of life’s journeys, and for always being there for me.”
Sister Norma Dell spoke of Sister Elizabeth Clare’s time on the LEAHC Board of Directors as secretary.
I tried to remember some funny incident or some flashy story about her, but she was not the flashy, funny kind of person. Mostly I remember how steady and dependable and organized she was on that Board. . . . She was like a rock, with great administrative skills, determined and willing to give of time and energy, committed to the issues of social justice.
Sister Carleen Maly spoke of Sister Elizabeth Clare’s part in solving the housing crisis at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, in the 1990s. The Regina building, a residence and where the Chapter Offices were located, was in poor shape and the sisters sought permission from the City of West Palm Beach to demolish it and build a new facility. Sister Elizabeth Clare, at that time Coordinator of Housing for the Congregation, went to Florida to help.
She spent three months preparing reports, figures, and additional proposals for demolition—she was undaunted by the city’s delays. Finally, we were granted permission, Regina was demolished, and, thanks to Sister E Clare’s supervision a lovely new structure was completed.
James Detloff, Sister Elizabeth Clare’s nephew, represented the family.
When I was very young, I couldn’t pronounce her name, so I always called her “Ibbidy Q.” When she wrote to us, she would sign her cards “Ibbidy Q.” When my oldest daughter Katie was three or four years old, she was into “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” When we went to visit Sister Elizabeth Clare, Katie looked at her and said, “You know, Sister Elizabeth Clare looks like Happy.” We had to agree. Sister Elizabeth Clare was always happy. She taught us how to deal with unhappy times.
Sister Patricia Harvat wrote of her relationship with Sister Elizabeth Clare. In the 1990s, during the remodeling of Regina Residence in Adrian, Sister Patricia was in charge of the formation office. Sister Elizabeth Clare was a great help to her in her search for the formation community housing. “She became my friend and an older sister.”
Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, presided at Sister Elizabeth Clare’s funeral liturgy on January 28. Sister Nadine Foley gave the homily. She concluded by saying, “Let us hear and ponder the homily of her life, a life of love. . . . May it be our last legacy, as it was hers.”