Sister Mary Burns
1916-2008

At Sister Mary Burns’ Golden Jubilee celebration in 1986, Sister Mary Louise Hall gave a homily and spoke words of praise. She said in part:

Sister Mary has been, and is, an inspiration. Her gentleness makes her kind and respectful. Her graciousness makes her generous and hospitable. Her prayerfulness makes her sensitive and understanding… She is always a good listener, a thoughtful guide, a trusted and concerned confidante, a woman to whom others turned in sorrow or joy or in confusion or struggle.

Because of her serenity, others become more peaceful. Because of her humor, others become more joyful. Because of her loyalty, others become more confident. Because of her good sense, others become more certain. Because of her faith, others become more reflective. Because of her hope, others become more courageous. Because of her kindness, others become more loving.

The woman praised so highly was the first child born to Julia (Saunders) and William Burns. She came into the family on August 16, 1916, was baptized Mary Elizabeth, and was followed by eight brothers and sisters (John, William Jr., twins James and Leo, Elizabeth, Robert, Joan, and Julia). All survived except Robert, who died three days after his birth. Three of the Burns daughters later entered religious congregations—Mary and Elizabeth became Adrian Dominicans and Julia entered the Mercy Congregation, where she is known as Sister Michaeleen.

Both parents were from the Lowell, Massachusetts, area, but settled in Detroit after their marriage. At first, William Burns owned a tool and die business, Burns Pattern and Machine Company; but with the coming of the Great Depression he sold his business and took a position with the Buhl Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming a vice president. He provided a good living for his large family.

Because of the father’s business transfers, Mary attended several different schools. She began her schooling at St. Margaret Grade School in Detroit, where she made her First Holy Communion and was confirmed. She then spent a year at Pawtucketville Public School in Lowell, Massachusetts, and two years at Marysville Public School in Marysville, Michigan. Her high school years saw her in three different Michigan schools—Marysville High School in Marysville, St. Mary Academy in Detroit, and St. Benedict High School in Highland Park with the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Upon graduation from St. Benedict in 1933, she decided that she wanted to open a floral business. Her father told her that he would help her do this if she attended a business school, so she became a student at the Detroit Business University. At this same time, however, the idea of giving her life to God as a religious sister had also entered her mind, and she thought of becoming a St. Joseph Sister.

Her younger sister Elizabeth (Betty) had met the Adrian Dominican Sisters at Precious Blood School and expressed an interest in attending St. Joseph Academy in Adrian for high school. The family asked Mary to drive her to the Academy, and there Mary met Sister Benedicta Marie Ledwidge, the Dean of St. Joseph College (now Siena Heights University), who encouraged her to attend the College.

A year passed before she began college there in September 1935, which was Betty’s sophomore year at the Academy. By the end of the first semester, Mary had decided that she wanted to become an Adrian Dominican, and informed her parents of this when she and Betty went home for the holidays. At first, they wanted her to finish her college education, but they finally gave their permission for her entrance.

On January 4, 1936, at nineteen years of age, Mary became a postulant. She received the habit and her religious name (Sister Marie Joachim) on August 17, and with her group professed first vows on August 23, 1937.

Within a few days of profession, she was on her way to St. Laurence School in Chicago, where she taught fourth grade for five years. Betty had also become an Adrian Dominican known as Sister Julie Ann, and was missioned at St. Laurence for three of those years. They were happy to be together.

In 1942 Sister Mary was transferred to St. Edmund in Oak Park for a year. In her autobiography she wrote, “At the end of the school year, I contracted a condition that infected my legs, and Mother Gerald [Barry] sent me to St. Joseph Sanitarium in Mount Clemens, Michigan, for mineral baths.” She spent the summer at the baths, and her legs healed.

The next eight years were mostly on the junior high level. Seven of these years were at St. Joseph in Port Huron to be near the mineral baths, and the last year was at St. Dominic in Detroit. In 1948 she and Sister Julie Ann returned to Detroit for their mother’s funeral.

In 1951 Sister Mary was again assigned to Illinois, to St. Patrick in Joliet. After six years she returned to Michigan and spent three years at St. Paul High School in Grosse Pointe as a teacher of religion, English, and business subjects.

Her assignment for 1960 caused her some trepidation. She became principal and superior at St. Ailbe in Chicago. Her six-year term, however, was a success. The sisters under her direction must have been fond of her and could not have considered her a severe superior, as is attested by a story Sister Peg O’Flynn told at the wake. She had heard this story from a sister who was missioned at St. Ailbe at that time.

Sister Mary did not care for mice, and these young sisters decided to play a joke on her. They placed a box near her bed with a long string on it so when Mary went to her room they rattled the box and it sounded like a mouse. Mary said nothing. However, that evening, or shortly thereafter, when the sisters went to bed, Mary enjoyed hearing the groans and moans from the short-sheeted beds she prepared for them!

When she left St. Ailbe, Sister Mary was again assigned to the high school level at Aquinas in Chicago, teaching English and typewriting. She had become interested in audio-visual materials, and in 1966 she served as General Chairperson of the Tuesday session of the CAVE (Catholic Audio-Visual Educators Association) Convention held at McCormick Place on April 12-14. At its 1967 convention held at the end of March, she was chairperson of one of the Wednesday sessions.

In 1968 she was again assigned as a principal, this time to Dominican High School in Detroit. The assignment lasted for only two years, however. In her autobiography she wrote, “These were days of unrest and turmoil in religious life during the changes of our life style.” The year 1970 saw more changes. Sisters were no longer assigned, but could find their own ministries. Sister Mary found a position in Jacksonville, Florida, at an Open Classroom Academy, a Montessori school with a Sister of St. Joseph as the head mistress.

Two years later, she became the resident director at Siena Heights College in Adrian, a position that she held for four years. She wrote that these years were “both challenging and faith-filled, as the college campus offered both an educational and a faith-filled atmosphere.” But there was also a period of sorrow when her father died in 1975. During these years, she and her little dog Missy became well known and loved by the students. At the wake, Judge Margaret Noe told those assembled:

I met Sister Mary and dog Missy in my sophomore year at Siena Heights in 1972. She was our Residence Director, our Michigan Mom, our confidante, our confessor (because somehow she knew everything anyway)… She was more than a port in the storm. She was the port and then the sunshine the morning after.

Sister Mary Burns liked animals, but there were also other animal lovers at Siena Heights College at that time. Sister Magdalena Ezoe said, “Sister Mary asked me to keep a cat for someone. Then the person changed her mind and didn’t want the cat, so I got to keep it.”

At the wake, Sister Karen Lietz also shared a remembrance:

Back in the 1970s, Sister Peggy Manners and I went to Siena. I was going to study, and Sister Peggy was going to minister at the college. Anyone who knows Peggy and me well knows that we have occasional disagreements. We had a disagreement on the way. We were still disagreeing when we got to Siena and met Sister Mary Burns. It was the first time we met her. She didn’t take sides, but tried to help us settle our disagreement. Finally she said, “If you go out to eat, I’m sure things will look better.” And they did.

If you have one good friend in life, you’re lucky. I was blessed with Sister Mary Burns as a friend for forty years. In all those years, I never heard a negative word from her. She was always generous, loving, and kind. We’ll miss her sorely.

In 1976 Sister Mary began a ministry as companion to Wilma Christensen of Harper Woods, Michigan, “who was very much in need of guidance and care after the loss of both parents and her only sister within two years.” She began this ministry after much prayer, reflection, and discussion with the Prioress General, at that time Sister Rosemary Ferguson. In her autobiography she wrote that Wilma “has become part of both my natural family and my religious family. She has many friends in the Adrian community.”

After over twenty years in that ministry, she lived for a time with her sister, Sister Michaeleen, RSM. Sister Julie Ann’s death in 2005 was traumatic for both of them. In 2006 Sister Mary returned to Adrian, and on March 14, 2008, she joined Sister Julie Ann and the other loved ones in eternity.

A wake-remembrance service was held for Sister Mary on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Margaret (Peg) O’Flynn, Prioress of Great Lakes Dominican Mission Chapter, welcomed the family members who were present: her sister Joan and husband Bill, her sister Sister Michaeleen, RSM, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Sister Peg summarized Sister Mary’s life and ministry, and added:

In my visits to the DLC [Dominican Life Center], I would visit Sister Mary’s room, yes to be with her, but mostly to gain from her peaceful presence the words of wisdom. Her goodness, her words, her hospitality, her holiness, her peaceful presence were transformative for me. She was much loved and valued by each of us.

Judge Margaret Noe praised Sister Mary, and spoke of the help she had received from Sister Mary.

When it was time for me to go to Law School in Detroit, it was Sister Mary I turned to for help in finding housing. She not only gave me housing, but also true friendship and love with her sisters … and my lifelong friend, Wilma Christensen.

Sister Mary exemplified passion for religious life… She worked at her duties wholeheartedly, with great grace and sincerity. I loved watching her interact. Her style and sense of class were uniquely her own.

She was with me when I graduated from college, Law School, married, and had children. She was with me in Chicago when I buried my mother and father. She has, and will always occupy, a special place in my heart. I was fortunate enough to tell her how much I loved her, to thank her for loving me back, and for being my friend.

Sister Mary’s funeral liturgy was celebrated on March 18. Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, was the presider and homilist. In his homily, Father said in part:

Sister Mary was blessed with the love of friends and family. As we listen to the readings in Holy Week, we realize that some of the greatest suffering for Jesus was his betrayal by friends he had treasured—Judas who handed him over and Peter who denied him. In the past few days and at the wake last night, Sister Mary’s friends testified to their loyalty and appreciation for her.

Sister Peg mentioned that Sister Mary’s presence had a calming effect. I experienced that also, and did so recently several times. I anointed Sister at least twice in the last ten days. On Thursday last we had a communal anointing service. When I went to Sister Mary’s room, it was clear that she had declined. She was not able to join in the prayers as before… There was no doubt that she was ready to go to her God.

As Sister Peg said, many of the sisters will miss Sister Mary’s gentle, loving, and caring presence. But at the funeral Father Roland reminded the assembly that she is now celebrating the Resurrection with the Resurrected One, and will continue to celebrate it for all eternity.