Sister Marie Carol Hurley
1918-2008

Sister Marie Carol Hurley was greatly loved and esteemed in Florida. On September 4, a memorial Mass for her was celebrated in Cor Jesu Chapel at Barry University in Miami. Bishop Felipe Estevez, a Barry alumnus, and Bishop John Noonan attended, as well as several priests. Father Scott O’Brien, the University chaplain, was the presider, and Sister Linda Bevilacqua, the president, was the homilist.

As she opened the wake service in Adrian for Sister Marie Carol Hurley on August 28, Sister Ann Liam Lees said, “All the world’s a stage, all the men and women merely players … and we are here tonight to remember this woman who, in her time, has played many parts.” Sister Marie Carol was known throughout the Congregation as an outstanding director of plays and musicals, as a marvelous speech teacher, and as a dedicated worker for peace and justice. She closed her interesting autobiography by writing, “I’ve had the ‘time of my life,’ and expect heaven to be perfectly glorious!” She served God as a professed Dominican Sister for over seventy years and her accomplishments were numerous, earning for her many accolades.

“I was born in bleak December in snow-covered St. Paul, Minnesota,” she wrote. She came into the family on December 10, 1918, an early Christmas gift to her parents, Frank and Martha (Carroll) Hurley, and was baptized Phyllis Ann. Two children preceded her—Donald, who died at an early age, and Lorraine. Five followed her—Mary Jane, Margaret Patricia (Pat), Frank, Jr, Eileen, and Joanne (born in 1936).

Lorraine and Phyllis began their education at Sibley School, a block from their home. After a year, they transferred to St. Michael School, and walked the three miles there every day for five years, eventually joined by their younger siblings. Frank Hurley worked nights at the Post Office. He took the street car to work; but, so that his children would get to see him, he would alight from the street car at their school, and hug them as they came out. There obviously was some uneasiness in the neighborhood, as the Catholics were called “Catlickers” by some. The St. Paul winters were severe, and colds and coughs abounded. Hoping to find better weather, Frank Hurley moved his family to Pipestone, a small town in the southwest corner of Minnesota, where he became a mail carrier with a rural route. The children attended Pipestone County School and enjoyed being considered “big-city kids.” The winters were not much better, however, so after a year their father arranged a transfer with a mail carrier in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Of course, that move made all the difference in my life,” Sister Marie Carol wrote.

The family arrived in West Palm Beach in June 1931, and the Hurley youngsters finished their education at St. Ann School with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sister Marie Carol wrote that their years at St. Ann prepared them for life and leadership. “I made my stage debut. Of course, I had studied elocution and staged, directed, and starred in productions in the Hurley Porch Theatre.” Her first public theatrical appearance was in “Sunny of Sunnyside.” The school put on annual productions, and she was always active back stage and on stage, hoping that theater would always be a part of her life.

One of the sisters had spoken to her about her vocation, and Phyllis decided that God was calling her. Shortly after graduation in June 1935, she, Margaret Lee Buesching (the future Sister Rosaria), and Rita Gleason (the future Sister Ann Catherine) took the train for Adrian. All of their relatives, teachers, and the St. Ann high school students were on hand to bid them farewell. They became postulants on June 21, when all the other postulants and novices were at Kelleys Island. She wrote that when the postulants and novices returned, she sang “The Lady in Red” during the recreation hour. For the returning postulants and novices, this must have been an unusual and rather surprising experience.

With her group she received the habit and her religious name on December 30, 1935, and professed her first vows on January 4, 1937. There had been much speculation about where she would go on mission, but she found herself assigned to Siena Heights College (now University) as a full-time student for the balance of that year. In June she had her first home visit, and met her baby sister Joanne.

Her first teaching assignment sent her to Blessed Sacrament in Toledo, Ohio, as a fourth grade teacher for a year. She spent the next year as a full-time student at Siena Heights College, but during the course of that year she was sent for a short time to Wyandotte to substitute in first grade for a sister who was ill. “I often wondered if anyone ever got the seat work or crayons straightened out. I lost my voice, and almost my sanity.” In June 1939 she received her bachelor’s degree with a major in English and minors in speech, Latin, and history.

In 1939 she began her high school ministry at Mount St. Mary Academy in St. Charles, Illinois, where she taught English and speech. She was also moderator of the school paper that won honors, and directed a play that was highly acclaimed. The next three years were at Dominican High School in Detroit, followed by two years at St. Edward High School in Elgin, Illinois. She had been studying at the Catholic University in Washington, DC, during the summers, majoring in drama, and in 1944 the University awarded her a master’s degree with a minor in English.

In 1945 she was sent to St. Patrick in Miami, Florida, to be near her sister Pat, who was diagnosed with cancer, and who died that year. She was back in Detroit in 1946, where she spent seven years at St. Ambrose High School, a mission that she loved. She then spent another year at Dominican High School. She studied theology at Mount St. Mary Academy during the summers, and in 1953 received a certificate.

In 1954 Sister Marie Carol began her twenty-year ministry at Barry College (now University) in Miami, Florida. Among the many plays and musicals that won accolades during those years was an original one that she and Sister Thomas Gertrude (Mary Catherine) Brennan wrote, “Mary and the Spinners.” Her father’s death in 1964 and her mother’s death in 1968 brought sadness into her life.

She also took on projects for the Archdiocese of Miami. She traveled to St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach to teach homilitics. In the summers she created children’s theater workshops, including a summer for needy black children—a summer to remember filled with music, drama, puppetry, dancing, art, sightseeing, and a trip to the ocean.

During these years she was given much publicity in the newspapers. She received several awards: in 1959 the Genesian Jewel Award of the National Theatre Conference, in 1999 the Lumen Christi Award from the Catholic Educational Guild and the Martin de Porres Award from the Southern Dominican Friars. She also received recognition several times in the Barry College Newspaper.

She described a traumatic episode that occurred when she had directed a production of “Henry IV” at St. Vincent. After a perfect opening night, she was driving home two of the young people who had helped in the play.

A big, red car came weaving onto the expressway and headed straight for the side of my car. I cried, “O God, not the kids!” and steered right onto the median. I tried to get back into the right lane but the driver, who seemed intoxicated, came over and pushed me toward the canal. I found myself facing a tree or the canal. I chose the tree, and although I was smashed to pieces, the kids didn’t move in their seats. I was in the hospital for months, and I was high on God Who had saved the children and about Whom I learned a lot during those hospital days. It was the longest and best retreat of my life.

While still in the hospital, she was elected to the 1968 General Chapter of Renewal. In June she went to Adrian in a wheelchair. During the Chapter, she was asked to join a Dominican Preaching Team that was being organized.

In 1974 she left Barry College and studied full-time at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, while living and working with the Preaching Team. In January 1976 she became a full-fledged member of the Team, living in Wheeling, West Virginia. During the summers she helped in the Penafort and Elm Programs. Then temptation entered her life. She became very friendly with one of the brothers, and thought of leaving the Congregation. She found, however, that she could not do so. In 1978 she left the team and served at Siena Heights College in Adrian for three years as professor and campus minister.

A Barry former student, and a good friend, Congressman William Lehman, called her and asked her to work in his office in Washington, DC, and she accepted his invitation. This ministry lasted only six months. Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, the president at Barry College, came to Washington to meet Congressman Lehman, and discussed with Sister Marie Carol the possibility of creating a program for black ministers, to help in the recovery of Liberty City where a riot had occurred. Sister Marie Carol returned to Barry College. She wrote, and taught in a program designed for black ministers. She later wrote and taught in a program to assist a large group of Haitian refugees. She served almost eleven more years at Barry College, during which a bout with cancer took her out of her ministry for almost a semester.

She left Barry College in 1993 and moved into Barry Villa. In 1980 she had been one of the founders of the Peace Education Foundation, and had served as its president and on its board. She had obtained a Ministry Trust grant from the Congregation in order to take the program to South America; and, with a team, had gone to the various countries, laying the groundwork. When she left Barry College, she gave her time to this organization. She wrote:

We publish curriculum for teachers to help them toward peaceful solutions to conflict, mediation, and peer counseling. We have grown from a grass-roots operation to a three-million-dollar-a-year business which employs twenty-eight persons. We train teachers as well so that they may change the environment of their schools to a peaceful one. This is a work that I believe in and to which I devote a great deal of time.

She also wrote of her other travels. She had taken students to Europe for theater and music festivals, had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, had visited Russia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and the Lands of Dominic.

A heart attack caused her return to Adrian and the Dominican Life Center/Maria in November 2007. God took her to eternity on August 26, 2008.

Sister Marie Carol’s wake-remembrance service was held on August 28 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Ann Liam Lees, Prioress of the Florida Mission Chapter, opened the service and welcomed all who had come to bid Sister Marie Carol farewell, many relatives and lay friends, and her numerous Dominican friends.

Lloyd Van Bylevelt spoke of his twenty-year friendship with Sister Marie Carol, and their work in the Peace Education Foundation. He described her as “a great orator,” passionate for justice and peace. He ended his testimonial by saying, “She was probably the smartest person I ever met, with such great wisdom. She was … the best friend I’ll ever have in my life!”

He also read a memorial from Jim Kisicki, who wrote in part: “My life has been and remains richer for her entrance into it. She became my mentor, spiritual confidant, a working companion in theater, a fellow Christian pilgrim, and, above all else, my dear, dear friend.”

Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, who was president of Barry College when Sister Marie Carol was there, also spoke. She said in part:

Who is she in your memory? Strength of family? Producer of shows? Teacher of expression? Clown of surprise? Preacher of truth? Community activist? Supporter of the poor? Advocate for immigrants? Woman of peace? Lady of love? She is all of these and more. She is the producer-director of her own history, carrying out what the Divine Author had written for her from all eternity.

Sister Joan O’Shanahan, OP, sent a fax from Argentina in the name of the Peace Education Foundation. She wrote in part: “We are hugely indebted to her … for the development of the Peace Education Foundation. We are trying to carry on somewhat this great mission entrusted by her to us all.”

Sister Linda Bevilacqua, the present president of Barry University, also spoke in praise of Sister Marie Carol.

I first met Sister Marie Carol fifty years ago as a freshman enrolled in one of her classes… My classmates and I took great delight in attending the … productions she produced and directed. For those of you who are not old Floridians, Barry’s musical and dramatic productions were the highlight of theatergoers in South Florida.

Sister Rosemary Ferguson, Sister Winifred Lynch, Sister Nancy Murray, Sister Maura Phillips, and Marilynn Bogetich, a former student, expressed their admiration for Sister Marie Carol.

Father Martin Iott, OP, who served on the Preaching Team with Sister Marie Carol, was the celebrant and homilist at her funeral liturgy on August 29, after which she was laid to rest in the Congregational cemetery. Father told some stories about the people to whom they preached, some of them very poor and with little education, but who seemed to understand and love the Scriptures. He described Sister as one who lived the “Magnificat,” one who rejoiced at the happiness she found here on earth, but who was also sad at the injustices that existed side by side with it. “God did great things for her and in her!”