Sister Lynne Hannum
1943-2008

Almost sixty-five years ago, on the bleak fall day of November 19, 1943, Frank and Margaret (LaBine) Hannum rejoiced at the birth of a daughter. She was their first child, and was baptized Mary Lynne. Catherine, the second daughter, completed the family. At that time, the family was living in Hancock, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Both parents were Michigan natives. Frank Hannum was originally from Muskegon in the Lower Peninsula. Margaret Hannum was from Houghton in the Upper Peninsula. From them, their two daughters received a heritage of English and French blood. Also, both parents were well educated. Frank Hannum was a mechanical engineer, and his wife was a medical technologist. They provided a good life for their two daughters.

When it was time for Mary Lynne to begin school, the family had moved to Houghton. The first three years of her schooling were in Houghton schools, two years in a public school and a year at Ignatius Loyola School. The family moved to Muskegon, and she spent three years at Roosevelt School there, then her junior high years at St. Mary School in Spring Lake. During these years, she took flute lessons, and became a talented flautist.

Sister Frances Nadolny, Prioress of Great Lakes Dominican Mission Chapter, said at the wake:

I learned from Catherine that Lynne was a wonderful Brownie and girl scout, and that she and Catherine had this crazy little song that they sang while doing dishes—even included three hops to the left and then to the right—just a little journey. I learned also that Lynne took a short ride on a horse one time, and fell right off it.

Again the family moved, this time to Hudson in the Lower Peninsula, where Mary Lynne received her high school education at Hudson High School. There she was active in the drama department, and during the summers served as a camp counselor. She graduated in June 1961.

Hudson is just a short distance from Adrian. Lynn registered at Siena Heights College in Adrian, and received a bachelor’s degree in June 1965, with a major in English and minors in mathematics and biology. She admired her Dominican teachers, and a short time after graduation, on August 28, 1965, she became a postulant. Sister Frances, who entered at that same time, remembered:

She was a member of a large group, but she was never as rowdy or boisterous as the rest of us. Instead she (and we) enjoyed her skill as a flautist. The patron of our group is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Lynne prayed St. Augustine’s prayer to the Holy Spirit daily, and throughout her life she embraced that generous spirit of Comforter.

When she received the habit with her group on August 4, 1966, she was allowed to keep part of her own name as her religious name, Sister Lynne Catherine. She professed her first vows on August 7, 1967.

Except for a short time in Ohio, all of Sister Lynne’s ministry was in Michigan institutions. Her first assignment kept her in Adrian as a third grade teacher at St. Joseph Academy. In the two years she spent there, she also taught sixth grade. In 1969 she was transferred to New Baltimore, where she taught fourth grade at Anchor Bay Catholic School. A year later she was in Detroit, teaching third grade at St. Augustine. She was, however, as Sister Anneliese Sinnott said in her homily at the funeral, wise enough to recognize that she did not fit the mold of elementary teacher.

Beginning with 1971, Sister Lynne was back in Adrian as a health assistant at Maria Health Care Center. She felt more fitted for caring for the sick, and requested permission to enter the field of nursing. Permission was granted, and she studied for two years at Mercy School of Nursing in Grand Rapids, receiving her diploma in 1975.

She then spent three years at St. Theresa Home in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a registered nurse, and two years at Good Samaritan Hospital, also in Cincinnati. Sister Frances said, “For five years, this gentle woman, this registered nurse, served the citizens of Cincinnati with reverent care and respect.”

Sister Lynne returned to Michigan and to Adrian, where she served as a driver for several months. In 1981 she obtained a position as a staff nurse at Bon Secours Hospital in Grosse Pointe, where she ministered for ten years. In 1991 she became a student at the University of Detroit Mercy, and earned a second bachelor’s degree in 1992, this time in nursing. On her annals form she wrote that she was accepted into Kappa Gamma D (National Catholic College graduate honor society) and Sigma Theta Tau (International Honor Society of Nursing), and that she was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship Certificate and the Mercy Health Care Service Award.

That same year she served as a community health nurse in Detroit with the Visiting Nurses Association of Southeast Michigan. In this position she became aware of the health needs of the poor. In 1994 she lost her father, and within a short time, her mother. On her annals form she wrote, “I was deeply involved in family events: the death of both parents within six weeks and having to manage the business of the estate.”

On her annals form for 1996-97, she wrote:

My ministry was my main focus. I moved in with another sister [Sister Carole Hane] renting a house and away on sabbatical for six months. I became overwhelmed with caring for three cats, a dog, my bird, the house, and my ministry.

When she left the Visiting Nurses after five years, she accepted a position at Bon Secours Nursing Care Center in St. Clair Shores. When there was more paper work (which she hated) than caring for the sick, she chose to find another ministry. In 1999 she became assistant registrar at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, and later served as office coordinator.

Sister Frances Nadolny, Sister Lynne’s Chapter Prioress, said of Sister Lynne and of her visit to Sister Lynne’s apartment:

Sister Lynne served several times on our Mission Council, and was currently a member. She was adamant about certain political issues, and could not tolerate those who took advantage of people.

She had a cat, Nigeria, which she dearly loved. Among her books were books of poetry and philosophy, nature books, and books about birds. I found hiking maps of all our Metroparks and a pair of well-worn walking shoes and a pair of nicely worn hiking boots. Her computer disk included all kinds of music as well as word games (hard ones). She had a favorite chair next to a big window looking out on the City of Detroit. And there was a huge Christmas cactus that she must have lovingly nurtured for many years.

Sister Patricia Benson, who ministers at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, listed all the countless tasks for which Sister Lynn took responsibility at the Seminary. She added:

I could go on and on enumerating all the things Sister Lynne did at ETS. But what she was loved for, and will be remembered for, is who she was. She accepted everyone—from difficult students to cranky faculty members. She took care of everything without a lot of fanfare. She set an example for all of us as a thoughtful, generous, loving human being. She even got faculty, staff, and students to wear our “Seek Truth, Make Peace, Reverence Life” shirts! We are so grateful to have known and loved Sister Lynne, and we will miss her terribly. She was often the “face” of ETS for others, and her “portrait” will live on in our love and memory.

God took Sister Lynne to eternity on October 8, 2008.

A wake-remembrance service was held for her in Holy Rosary Chapel on October 9. Sister Frances Nadolny welcomed those who had come to bid Sister Lynne farewell—among them her sister Catherine Whiteacre, her niece Christine, and the many Dominican and other friends who had assembled, including her good friend Sister Carole Hane. Sister Frances summarized Sister Lynn’s life and ministry, and added:

Sister Lynne’s death was really quite peaceful. Sister Carole had given her a pink stuffed animal which felt like Nigeria and which she placed under her arm. And her sister and our sisters took turns holding her hands and stroking her forehead. We sang the “Prayer of St. Francis” and “Blessed Assurance.” When we sang the “Salve” and the “O Lumen,” songs of the Dominican Order, she took a last little puff of breath and journeyed to her last place, where she will continue to be a gentle woman, a quiet light, and now a morning star.

Deb Carter, an Associate, spoke for the Kaleidoscope Mission Group. She said in part:

Sisters Lynne, Meg Andrezik, and Phyllis Sikora were founding members of our Mission Group some twenty-five years ago. Many women, both vowed and associates, have been welcomed by Sister Lynne over the years as the group changed from a cluster to a Mission Group and through several name changes… She was constant, consistent, faithful, and loyal, especially helpful to our sister/associate Sylvia English when she experienced some recent health challenges… Sister Lynne was creative. She loved poetry. She played the flute until her hearing loss made that impossible. Eleanor Powell said this, “What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.” Sister Lynne Hannum was God’s gift to us all.

Sister Theresa Mayrand said:

We began our journey together as freshmen at Siena Heights for four years, and made profession together… The first thing that struck me about Lynne was that she was a down-to-earth person—what you saw was what you got. There was no pretense or show about her. She wasn’t after glory or honor.

She loved nature. She really got into camping… I was getting into camping, too, and needed equipment. I asked her for help, and she really taught me about camping.

Douglas Tracy, of the Ecumenical Theology Seminary, also spoke.

When I received news of her death, a story came to mind that fit her and her ministry well. It’s a fable, a parable found in the book “Servant Leadership.” In the story, there is a caravan traveling through the wilderness. There is a servant who does all of the work, unspoken little things that heal stress and make for everyone’s comfort, little things that nobody notices or pays attention to. The caravan continued on its travels and did well, until one day that servant left it and everything fell apart.

I think that for us Sister Lynne was that servant, doing all the little things that made us feel part of the community and loved. Now, somehow, we must pick up that servant spirit and keep the little things happening, as she did for us. We’ll miss her.

Sister Lynne’s funeral liturgy was celebrated on October 10 in Holy Rosary Chapel. Father Norman Thomas, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Detroit, was the presider. Sister Anneliese Sinnott was the homilist. Sister Anneliese said in part:

Sister Lynne was always the “quiet one.” Sometimes her quietness deceived others. She often was the last to give her opinion. But that never meant that she didn’t have yearnings or direction or purpose… Most would describe her as an “ordinary person.” But she was not ordinary in any way. She was fiercely loyal—to her family, to her friends, to the Adrian Dominican Congregation, to her Mission Group (its delegate twice), to the Seminary, to her church community at Sacred Heart, and even to her cat! Everyone knew Sister Lynne, and everyone loved her.

She had her own personal tragedies in life. She experienced the deaths of her parents within two months of each other, she recognized her own addiction and entered into recovery, she gave up her beloved nursing for work as an office manager. But through all her life, she walked and thought and prayed and, I’m sure, met Jesus in the midst of her walking.

Several people mentioned that their lives are richer for having known Sister Lynne Hannum. That is a wonderful legacy to leave to others.

Sister Theresa Mayrand spoke of an experience that she had on a camping trip. She was “mesmerized” by huge birds gliding in the sky, and thought how wonderful it would be to glide into God’s presence. That is what she visioned for Sister Lynne. “I think she glided right into her Lord’s arms.”