Sister Denis Marie Talbot
1910-2008
“It has been a good life!” With these words, Sister Denis Marie Talbot ended her short autobiography. Described as small of stature but large of heart and voice, she accomplished much for God in the time on earth allotted to her.
She was born in Detroit on January 3, 1910, to Joseph and Emma (Zuern) Talbot, and baptized Kathleen Christine. A brother, Charles, and a sister, Margaret, had preceded her into the family, and two brothers, Joseph and Denis, usually called Jack, followed her.
Both parents were Michigan natives. Joseph Talbot came from an Irish Catholic heritage. His parents had emigrated from Ireland, and settled in the small Michigan town of Grattan where their four sons and four daughters were born. Emma Zuern’s parents were Lutherans from Germany, and upon arriving in the United States they made their home in Ann Arbor where their son and daughter completed the family. In her autobiography, Sister Denis Marie wrote that both sets of grandparents and her parents’ siblings were all deceased so “there were no family gatherings to remember and cherish.”
Joseph Talbot had found work in Ann Arbor, where he met and married Emma Zuern. After their marriage at St. Thomas Catholic Church, they moved to Detroit, and there their children were born and grew up. The Talbots were a happy family. The father was an electrician, always worked, and supported his family well. They were not at all wealthy, but always had the necessities. “My mother was an excellent manager and cook, so we were never without enough food or clothing.”
From early days, I recall many evenings when Dad played his harmonica and we all sat around at his feet or on his lap while he sang old ballads (Irish?), most of which I have never heard since, so I don’t know where he picked them up. They certainly were not the “best loved Irish melodies.” Inevitably, however, he always played and sang “Listen to the Mocking Bird” and “Wearing of the Green.”
The family was living in St. Leo Parish when Kathleen was born, and she at first attended a public school, then transferred to St. Leo School. She also made her First Holy Communion and was confirmed in that parish. She wrote that when she was in sixth grade something that she considered wonderful happened. Her mother became a Catholic. “From then on, we all went to church together.”
Kathleen’s first three years of high school were at St. Leo; and then, since the family had moved into St. Theresa Parish, she finished her last year of high school there, under the tutelage of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Upon graduation in June 1928, she obtained a position in the bookkeeping department of Crowley Milner’s Department Store.
For some time she had thought about becoming a sister, but not too seriously. She was hoping for marriage and a family. But one day a sister from St. Theresa called her at work and told her that trunks were being ordered for the girls who would be going to Adrian in a short time. She asked if Kathleen would like one ordered for her, and Kathleen said, “Yes.” When she told her parents, they wanted her to be sure that she really wanted to be a sister. Although still not quite certain she answered “Yes,” and they raised no more objections.
On July 2, 1930, at the age of twenty, Kathleen was one of the group of girls from St. Theresa who entered the postulate at Adrian. Within a short time she was on the train for Chicago, where she taught second grade at St. Carthage School. She returned to Adrian in April, and received the habit and her religious name on April 7, 1931, then finished the year at St. Carthage. By this time she had decided that she really wanted to be an Adrian Dominican.
The required, canonical novitiate year followed, and with her group she professed her first vows on August 2, 1932. She remained in Adrian as a full-time student at St. Joseph College (now Siena Heights University) until the end of the first semester of 1933-34, and the College awarded her a Bachelor’s Degree in June 1934, with a major in Latin and minor in French.
Except for two years in the Southwest, and a few years on the elementary level, most of Sister Denis Marie’s teaching ministry was as a teacher of Latin, English, religion, and history in Midwest high schools. In February 1934 she was sent to Mount St. Mary Academy in St. Charles, Illinois, where she served until June 1935.
Brought back to Michigan, she taught high school for five years at St. Ambrose in Detroit. This was one of her favorite assignments, and she wrote in her autobiography:
Although twenty-some sisters, we lived in two flats in crowded conditions, but I have many happy memories of my five years there. Even today, after many years, when I meet sisters with whom I lived there, we recall and laugh over many funny or enjoyable situations.
She then spent a year at Sacred Heart in Hudson, two years at St. Paul in Owosso, three more years at Sacred Heart in Hudson, and a year at St. Mary in Adrian. During the summers she studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and received a Master’s Degree in Latin in 1937.
In 1947 she was sent to Visitation in Detroit to teach on the elementary level in the middle and junior high grades. At the wake, Sister Therese Mary Foote remembered those days.
A large group of twenty-five sisters taught there. She taught the older children, while I taught second grade, this giving us little in common professionally. However, it was in our convent chapel as we prayed our choral office that I first heard her beautiful singing voice. As we praised God together, I became well aware of her prayerful presence, and memory of her prayerfulness at that time has only grown deeper with time.
In 1953 Sister Denis Ann was assigned as a seventh grade teacher at St. Mary in Royal Oak for two years, during which sorrow entered her life at the death of her mother. Then for five years she served as superior and principal at St. Philomena Elementary School in Detroit.
In 1960 she returned to the high school level at Hoban-Dominican High School in Cleveland, Ohio, for three years. The death of her father in April 1961 again brought sorrow into her life. After three years at Hoban-Dominican, she returned to Detroit to teach at St. Gabriel.
In 1964 she became ill and tubercular peritonitis was diagnosed. She recovered, but was out of the classroom for some time. Surgery took place during the summer, and she rested at Rosary Convent in Detroit until November 1965, then was sent to help out at St. John Seminary in Plymouth. Beginning in January 1966 she finished the year at St. Mary in Royal Oak with seventh graders, then taught for two years at Benedictine High School in Detroit. The next four years were at Rosary High School, also in Detroit.
She was sent to the Southwest in 1972, where she taught at St. Joseph Elementary School in Winslow, Arizona, for two years. Returning to Detroit, she decided to leave the classroom, and became a pastoral minister at St. Suzanne Parish for four years. Sister Nancyann Turner recalled memories from those days in a fax that she sent to the wake.
I have such wonderful memories of Sister Denis Marie from way back in the ‘70s when Sister John Mary (Patricia) Hogan, others, and I were on the Immaculate Conception Provincial Team. Our offices were at St. Suzanne in Detroit. Sister Denis Marie, Helen Ann Novak, and Irma Gerber were among those who lived there. They were such a great community to those of us on the Provincial Team—frequently treating us to homemade soups, bread, and delicious cookies. They also did a lot of good visiting the sick in St. Suzanne Parish. Sister Denis Marie was always a determined and stalwart worker.
In 1978 Sister Denis Marie returned to Adrian, and served as a therapist at Maria Health Care Center for a year, and in the pharmacy for eleven years. Sister Therese Mary Foote remembered:
With perfect accuracy she filled prescriptions, delivered medications and medical supplies to every nursing station on all floors of Maria on her little steel delivery cart. She had perfect handwriting and kept meticulous records on each sister’s chart. One of her special jobs each morning was to get fresh coffee from the kitchen at “coffee break” time… I can still smell that good coffee and enjoy all the joy and laughter and camaraderie among our Maria Staff at that time.
From 1990-95 Sister Denis Marie took care of United Parcel Services for the Congregation. Sister Therese Mary described her performance in this job also.
While a rather tiny person, Sister Denis was undaunted by big jobs! During those years we sent prescriptions all over the country to those of our sisters who chose to use our services. So a UPS truck came on a daily basis to pick up our boxes. Besides our prescriptions, any sisters on campus who wanted to send a personal package could bring it to the pharmacy and she would process it for pick-up.
Sister Denis Marie retired in July 1995, and lived in Regina Residence until February 1997, when illness made it necessary for her to move to the Maria Building. Death came to her on July 13, 2008. She was ninety-eight years of age and had been a professed Adrian Dominican for seventy-six years.
Sister Denis Marie’s wake-remembrance service was held in St. Catherine Chapel on July 15. Sister Joan Sustersic, Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, opened the ceremony. She welcomed those who had come to bid Sister Denis Marie goodbye—her nephew Judge Michael Talbot, her niece Mary Kay, her sister-in-law Betty, and her many Dominican friends. After summarizing Sister Denis Marie’s life and ministry, she spoke of Sister Denis Marie’s days at the Dominican Life Center/Maria.
Although her family was small, Sister Denis looked forward to the visits of her nephew Michael, who often came to visit her. She was an avid Tiger’s fan. If they were on TV, she was tuned in. She was very well read, until recently. She loved to write and always kept in touch with her sister-in-law Betty. You may wonder if she had hearing aids. YES. Did she like to use them? NO, and possibly because they did not really help her hearing… Our communication with her was difficult. Some took to writing her notes, rather than trying to penetrate the increasing hearing loss. As she aged, she suffered more physical problems.
Sister Rosemary Abramovich, Director of the Dominican Life Center, told those assembled about the first fashion show held at Maria. This took place in the middle 1990s. Shops from downtown Adrian sent the clothes, and Sister Denis Marie was one of the volunteer models. She enjoyed modeling very much, and wore a pink suit from Elder Beerman. Following the show, Elder Beerman offered a 25% discount on the suit, and Sister Denis Marie decided to buy it. After that, she always wore it for special occasions.
Sister Denis Marie’s nephew, Judge Michael Talbot, shared his memories. He was born in 1945; and, at the age of five, he found it a bit intimidating when his family visited Sister Denis Marie in large convents like Visitation, where the parlors were big and the sisters were in habits.
In his early days Judge Talbot thought of becoming a priest and attended the seminary for a time. While in the seminary he “flunked” Latin, and was afraid to tell his aunt that, since she was a Latin teacher and her degrees were in Latin. When she found out, however, she was very kind to him about it. He visited her often, and the information she gave him prompted him to do research into the family history. When he learned that she was dying, he came to Adrian immediately. He felt that being allowed to be present in her room while the sisters were praying and chanting was a special gift that God gave to him.
Sister Therese Mary Foote said:
Sister Denis Marie was a member of our Emmaus Mission Group for over fifteen years, and was a faithful participant until her hearing became so impaired in group discussions that she chose to be a prayer supporter and joined the Holy Rosary Chapter, where Prayer and Presence became her primary focus.
Father Scott Steinkerchner, a Dominican priest serving at the Motherhouse for a time, was the presider and homilist at Sister Denis Marie’s funeral liturgy on July 16. Some thoughts from his homily:
In today’s readings, chosen by Sister Denis Marie, we are told to look beyond the transitory to what lasts—relationships, love, life in God… Our wealth here is composed of the people we know and love, the memories we hold of our childhood and family. These were Sister Denis Marie’s beliefs. She knew that love doesn’t pass away.
Sister Denis Marie’s hearing problems are now over, and she is able to hear the voices welcoming her into eternity, where she has joined her grandparents, parents, and the other family members awaiting her. And at last she sees face to face the Lord she served for most of her life.