Sister Adrienne Higgins
1919-2008

Sister Adrienne once said that, since she came from a family of Irish blood, her last name may have originally been O’Higgins. “My father always said that the ‘O’ got lost in the ocean. We often had a good laugh about that!” If that actually happened, it had happened many years ago when the Higgins’ ancestors came to the States. Her father, John Higgins, did not cross the ocean. He was born in Chicago, as was her mother, Mary O’Brien. There the two met and married.

On March 5, 1919, John and Mary Higgins welcomed a new arrival, a daughter. At the suggestion of a friend’s sister, a St. Joseph nun, they christened her “Adrienne Mary.” Adrienne was preceded in the family by a brother, James, and a sister, Catharine, just a year older than she. Her brother Jack followed a few years later.

In her interview with Sister Jean Tobin, Sister Adrienne described escapades from her early years. She spoke of riding in the wagon of a young neighbor “boyfriend” to a fire some distance away without telling, or obtaining permission from, either her parents or the boy’s parents. She didn’t remember what punishment her father meted out to her upon her return except that she never again rode in that wagon.

Her beloved Grandfather O’Brien lived with the family, and sometimes took care of the children. Adrienne did not like to take naps; so one time when her grandfather was caring for her, she hid in a closet so that she wouldn’t have to take a nap. A search for her ensued, and she was finally found. Again she didn’t remember how she was punished, but in her interview Sister said, “Our parents never used corporal punishment, but the act was never repeated.”

She began her education at St. Sabina School. After a year, when the family moved, she transferred to Little Flower School with the Mercy Sisters, where she finished her grade school years. These were also the Great Depression years, but the Higgins family was never in want. John Higgins worked in the stockyards as a meat buyer for Bazley Markets, and provided well for his family as well as for other families who needed help.

Adrienne loved the Mercy Sisters and hoped to become one of them eventually. When she graduated from grade school in 1933, she wanted to attend Mercy High School. At her mother’s insistence, however, she registered at the Academy of Our Lady, where Catharine was already in attendance. After graduation, Catharine entered St. Anthony School of Nursing. James was studying for the priesthood at Quigley Preparatory Seminary.

When Adrienne received her diploma in 1937, her intention was to enter the novitiate of the Mercy Sisters. At that time her mother was not well. Catharine and James were away and Jack was still in high school, so Adrienne’s father asked her to stay home until her mother’s health was better. She agreed, providing she could continue her education. She chose to study at St. Xavier College, and she received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in June 1941, with a major in social science and minors in Latin and English. In her interview, she said:

My senior year at St. Xavier College brought lots of fun, activities, and even a special honor of introducing the ArchDuke of Austria, who spoke for an assembly. Another senior accompanied me when I drove him back to the hotel where he was staying, after a social followed the assembly.

During this time, for no reason that she could explain, she lost her desire to be a Mercy Sister but not the desire to serve God. She revealed this to a family friend, Father Bernard Brogan. Father was a relative of Mother Mary Gerald Barry, and wrote to her. As a result, Adrienne and her mother, who had recovered, were invited to Adrian for the 1940 Christmas reception ceremony. At that time, Mother Gerald said to her, “With the name ‘Adrienne,’ you belong in Adrian.” After witnessing the beautiful reception ceremony, Adrienne agreed.

A few days after receiving her degree from St. Xavier, Father Brogan, accompanied by Jack, drove Adrienne to Adrian on June 28, 1941. Mother Gerald was away from Adrian, so Adrienne had to wait until her return the next day to receive the postulant’s veil. “I slept in the big guest room across from the priest’s dining room.” Father Brogan and Jack stayed at the rectory overnight.

She was lonesome during her postulancy, and she said, “Sister Brigetta [McDonough, the postulant mistress] always called us her ‘cry babies.’ I loved her, and she tried so hard to distract us and make us happy.”

With her group, Adrienne received the habit and her religious name on December 30. She chose the name, “Sister John Bernard,” for her father and for Father Brogan. Father Brogan celebrated the Mass, and Sister’s brother James was the Master of Ceremonies. During her novitiate, she was shocked and grief stricken to receive the news that James had left the seminary. Several years later, he died of cancer at the age of thirty-three.

She professed her first vows on December 31, 1942, and within a short time was in a car headed for Detroit, where she taught middle grade students at St. Theresa School for the balance of that school year and the next year. In 1944 she was transferred to Chicago, where she spent five years at St. Philip Neri and a year at St. Carthage. During the summers she studied at Loyola University in Chicago, and received a Master’s Degree in Education in 1948.

In 1950, assigned as superior and principal, she and three other sisters opened Santa Maria del Popolo School in Mundelein, Illinois. Three years later, perhaps because of a need, she was sent to Aquinas High School in Chicago as a teacher of history, English, and religion for eight years. Sister Frances Lombaer was one of her pupils. At the wake, she said:

My sister knew her at both St. Philip Neri and Aquinas. I was in her history class at Aquinas. She was a wonderful, beloved teacher. She was also very active in trying to encourage religious vocations. At times of reception or profession ceremonies in Adrian, she would always get together a group of girls to come and witness them.

Sister Adrienne then ministered for a year at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette. She spent some of her summers studying theology at Mount St. Mary Academy in St. Charles, and received a certificate in 1956.

Illness was coming upon her, for records show that during all of the summers of the 1960s she either received medical attention or spent the summer resting.

After spending the 1962-63 school year at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, California, she was brought back to Chicago and assigned again to Aquinas High School. At the wake Sister Mary O’Neill said:

When I went to Aquinas in 1965 she was there. She was an exemplary teacher, and she taught me how to teach high school girls. I was a science teacher. Together we did a number of things. We went to see her mother and her sister Catharine and her cat several times, and we were always served tea and cookies. In those two years when I was there Sister Adrienne had six spells.

In 1967 I was assigned to be in charge of the house. I decided that I was going to see that she got better. For the first month she was better, but at the end of August she became sicker than before. I didn’t know what to do. She kept falling… Then we had to take her to the hospital, and, with a broken heart, I left her there… I didn’t know at that time that she had a progressive brain degeneration. There was nothing I could have done to make her well.

In December 1969 Sister Adrienne was taken to Maria Hall in Adrian. In her interview she said:

My teaching years were cut short due to many health problems beginning at Aquinas. The only memory I have of my sudden exit was the flashing red light of the ambulance that took me to Little Company of Mary Hospital.”

In 1971 she was sent to St. Henry in Lincoln Park, Illinois, as a resident. During her time there, in 1973, her mother died.

Seemingly recovered from illness somewhat, in 1974 she became a tutor at Ascension in Harvey, Illinois, for a year. She then spent four years at Queen of Apostles in Riverdale, Illinois, as a tutor and AV coordinator.

She returned to Adrian in December 1979, and resided in Roncalli Residence. In 1985 the state of her health made it necessary for her to move to Maria Health Care Center. In spite of her illness, she was not idle, however. For a time she worked in the gift shop at Maria. When she was no longer able to help there, she used her artistic ability to create articles for the gift shop and for her family.

She also did what she could to help the other sisters and make them comfortable. At the wake Sister Joan Sustersic, Prioress of Holy Rosary Chapter, said:

When Sister Haniya Batah from Iraq came to the Dominican Life Center after having suffered a stroke, Sister Adrienne took her under her wing. Sister Adrienne knew no Arabic and Sister Haniya knew no English, but the two sat there and spoke. Although they didn’t understand each other’s tongue, they understood the universal language of smiles and laughter. One would have thought that they understood each other perfectly!

In her 2001 interview, Sister Adrienne said, “Of my wonderful family, whom I dearly loved, only my sister Catharine and myself are living. Mother, Dad, Jim, and Jack are deceased.” Catharine died in 2003, and Adrienne joined her loved ones in eternity on August 10, 2008. She was eighty-nine years of age.

A wake-remembrance service was held for Sister Adrienne on August 12 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Joan Sustersic informed the assembly that Sister Adrienne’s sister-in-law, Mary Alice, who had intended to be here, was taken to the hospital with serious problems. Her son Jim and his wife, who had also planned to attend, were with her. Several other nieces and nephews were present at the wake, and Sister Joan welcomed them and extended sympathy. She summarized Sister Adrienne’s life and ministry, and spoke of her last years in Adrian.

Illness came at an early age… In 1979, at the young age of sixty, Sister Adrienne came to Roncalli Residence due to a condition that would gradually get worse… At first, she got around with a cane, then a walker, then an Amigo, and finally only a wheelchair. She managed very well the majority of the time and was able to be fairly independent.

As she aged, some dementia became apparent—partially due to her Olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy, which was diagnosed early on. This year her health began a steep decline.

Sister Mary O’Neill spoke of this past year in Adrian.

This year, when I came back to Adrian, I was a Eucharistic minister. She would attend Mass in the balcony, and when I brought her the Host and wine she smiled at me and seemed to recognize me. When I would go to her room, many times Sister Dolores Slosar was there. She looked out for Sister Adrienne, who was very sick. But they would banter back and forth a bit, and seemed to enjoy each other.

Sister Frances Lombaer remembered that Sister Adrienne always wanted everything to be in order. She also remembered the help that Sister Adrienne gave to the sisters ministering in South Africa—sending encouraging letters and contributions.

Sister Roseen Maier sent a fax that was read at the wake. She wrote in part:

My recollection of Sister Adrienne goes back to the early fifties. We were both assigned to take a parish census at Christ the King Parish in Chicago. It was summertime, so the temperature was probably 100 degrees. At that time, we were in full habit with our black cloaks completing our attire. I’m sure the people we approached wondered what planet we came from. Our plan was to each start on the opposite side of the street, and we would meet at the end of the block. On one occasion, I heard loud music coming from a home nearby. I rang the doorbell. As I looked into the parlor, there sat Sister Adrienne in an air conditioned room, enjoying a glass of cold lemonade and listening to music… We both said, “Mother Gerald should see us now!”

Sister Adrienne’s funeral liturgy was celebrated on April 13, with Father Martin Iott, OP, of the Ashram group on campus, as the presider. Father emphasized the virtue of hope, and of its evidence in Sister Adrienne’s life.

Sister was laid to rest in the cemetery that Mother Camilla Madden designed in circles many years ago.