Sister Patricia Eileen Consier
1933-2011

All those who knew Sister Patricia Eileen Consier agree that she was a remarkable musician who was able to draw beautiful music out of the people whom she served.

Sister Patricia Eileen was an only child. Her parents, Albert and Mary Annette (Loughlin) Consier, had been married for twelve years, and had given up their dream of a large family. So her mother’s pregnancy, at the age of forty-one, came as a surprise. Their child was expected in January 1934, which pleased both of them since they both celebrated January birthdays. The baby, however, arrived a month early. She was an early Christmas gift sent by God to them on December 19, 1933, and she was delivered by caesarian section. Mary Annette Consier was hospitalized for some weeks, and the baby was taken to the home of her two aunts, her mother’s sisters. She was baptized “Patricia Eileen.” Sister wrote, “Thus began my reputation as the kid with three mothers.”

At that time the family lived in Chicago, in St. Brendan Parish. “Everyone took turns raising me, marveling at what I was able to do or say, and always bringing me little surprises.” When Patricia was almost five years old, they moved into St. Carthage Parish. Since her mother’s health was not equal to coping with her small daughter’s energy, the doctor suggested that the child be sent to kindergarten. Patricia was sent to kindergarten in a nearby public school and started piano lessons.

She began her years at St. Carthage School in first grade. There she met and loved the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Her secondary years were spent at Aquinas High School. “There I met some women who would influence my life for the rest of my days.” As she progressed through her years of schooling, she became more and more certain that she wanted to become an Adrian Dominican. She told her parents in April of her senior year, and she wrote, “These were the most painful three months I have ever lived through.” Her parents opposed her entrance, not wanting to lose their only child. Eventually, however, they accepted her decision.

She entered the Congregation on June 24, 1951, at the age of seventeen. To her surprise, because of a need for teachers, she was sent to Detroit to teach fourth grade at St. Brigid School for the first semester of that school year. In December, she returned to Adrian. On December 27 she received the habit with her group, and was allowed to keep her own name as her religious name. Sister Angela Susalla sent a remembrance to the wake in which she mentioned:

I remember thinking how beautiful Pat was. In the Novitiate some of us even called her “Dolly” as she was always so prim and proper, nothing out of place—never seemed to have a spot on her, not like some of us.

At the end of the novitiate year, Patricia professed her first vows on December 28, 1952, and then remained in Adrian until August 1953 as a student at Siena Heights College (now University).

Her first assignment as a religious sister sent her to St. Mary in Rome, Georgia, where she taught primary children and served as musician. In 1957 she was transferred to St. Mary Help of Christians in Aiken, South Carolina. There she taught junior high students and also served as musician. A humorous story was told at her wake:

One of her assignments was to direct the youth choir. On a Palm Sunday in the late 1950s she was assembling the choir of fifty children just before the service was to start. It happened to be the same weekend as the Masters (Golf) Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. A man entered the choir loft and asked if he could sing with the children. She politely responded, “Sorry. Only choir members are allowed in the loft. You’ll have to go downstairs.” It turned out that that man was Bing Crosby, who had come for the nearby tournament. After Mass the pastor introduced Crosby to an embarrassed choir director. Crosby’s wife, with a laugh, comforted her husband by commenting, “It’s all right, dear. You couldn’t reach the high notes that the boys sang anyway.” That mistake was remedied the next day.

Sister Joyce LaVoy mentioned that Time Magazine ran an article that week entitled, “Nun Doesn’t Allow Bing Crosby to Sing.”

Sister Patricia Eileen was sent to Florida in 1961, where she served as musician and taught on the junior high level at Little Flower in Hollywood. While there, she provided a children’s choir for a St. Patrick’s Day Program put on by Lawrence Welk. During the summers she studied at Barry College (now University) in Miami, Florida, and in 1961 the college awarded her a bachelor’s degree with a major in piano and minors in Latin and English.

From that time on, most of her assignments were in Florida. In 1962, she taught eighth grade and music at Blessed Sacrament in Tallahassee. The next year she taught Latin and music on the secondary level at St. Patrick High School in Miami Beach. In 1964 she again taught junior high students, as well as music, at Assumption in Jacksonville. She spent her summers studying at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and in 1966 received a master’s degree in music education. That same year she lost her father, and her mother was left alone.

In 1969 she returned to the Midwest to teach music at Rosary High School in Detroit. The next year saw her again in Florida. She spent that year in Tallahassee studying at Florida State University and teaching part-time at Blessed Sacrament School. For the next few years she served the Diocese of St. Augustine as a music consultant and on the Liturgical Commission. During that time, in 1974, Florida State University awarded her a Ph.D. degree in music education. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with cancer and surgery was necessary.

From 1976 to 1979, she returned to Assumption in Jacksonville as principal. She had been spending the summers in Chicago with her mother, whose health was declining. Plans were made to move her mother to Florida, but those plans did not come to fruition since her mother died in August 1982. Because of all the stress, Sister suffered some back trouble which required surgery. She had taken on the responsibility of music director at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine, Florida, and continued serving there until December 2005, for a total of almost twenty-six years. At that time she found it necessary to retire. Margo Pope, a member of one of the choirs at the Cathedral, wrote:

In addition to directing three choirs at the Cathedral, she restarted the Community Messiah performance in 1980, now an annual holiday tradition. She was the prime promoter of the drive to purchase and install a new pipe organ for the Cathedral.

I remember Sister Patricia Eileen as the role model of a spiritual and professional woman for many of us in the Cathedral Parish choir. . . . I took my first steps with the Book of Christian Prayer through her. . . . She made me a cantor when I thought being a church soloist was for someone else, not me! . . . Her work here is still legendary!

In February 2006, Sister Patricia Eileen returned to the Dominican Life Center/Maria in Adrian, where she remained until her death on May 30, 2011, at the age of seventy-seven.

Sister Patricia Eileen’s wake was held on May 31 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Jo Gaugier, Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, welcomed all those who had assembled to bid farewell to her. She summarized Sister Patricia Eileen’s life and ministry and concluded by mentioning her inability to speak during these last months.

Sister Kathleen Buechele spoke of early days:

We grew up together in Chicago. She was warm and secure and loving. We were the only two Catholic girls on our block. All the rest were boys. Pat and I used to very much enjoy being with her Aunts Jo and Glad and her mom. They would put on wonderful parties for us, especially birthday parties. There were always lot of treats and prizes and beautiful cakes. We would run through the prairies, down the alleys, and play at each other’s houses, or play kick the can with the neighborhood boys from our class at St. Carthage. We had great fun!

These last months, when Pat was really failing and stopped talking, stories about our days at St. Carthage, and especially the boys in our class, would make her squeeze my hand and start talking a bit.

Sister Joyce LaVoy shared memories:

Sister Pat crossed paths with celebrities. I’m here to tell you that she met Bing Crosby and Lawrence Welk. . . . In the 1960s Rosarian Academy built a beautiful theater. As part of the festivities of opening night, Sister Pat and I were members of the four “Singing Sisters” who entertained, accompanied by Sister Thomas Gertrude [Brennan]. During the last morning rehearsal, Perry Como, whose daughter was a student at Rosarian, sauntered into the theater. He asked to hear us sing. We said “Yes” but only if he’d sing for us, which he did. He had donated the organ.

Sister Pat had this air of being so perfect, and yet she had a marvelous sense of humor.

Sister Jean Charles Birney also shared.

I lived with Sister Patricia Eileen at Assumption in Jacksonville, Florida, for ten years. I also lived in close proximity with her when she worked as music minister at the Cathedral in St. Augustine. The lay teachers described her as “the white gloved type of lady.”

She had many talents. Her mind was like a steel trap. . . . At St. Augustine, she often ate at the rectory and could hold her own in conversations with the clergy, including the rector and the bishop. It was particularly sad for me when her mind failed.

Sister Carleen Maly remembered:

For twenty years I shared life and faith with Sister Pat Consier in the Central Florida Mission Group. We determined, at the time of forming our group, that because we traveled long distances and valued the quality of time together we would meet for an entire weekend. At that time, Sister Pat was Director of Music at the Cathedral-Basilica in St. Augustine, Florida. That was no easy job. Nor was it an easy trip for her to come to Orlando. But she valued the time we made for prayer, faith sharing, and Congregation matters enough to say that the only time she’d need to miss meetings would be ordination day at the Cathedral.

Sister Pat brought her love of music, as well as her desire for perfection in singing, to our Mission Group because when she prepared prayer she’d want (much to our dismay and groaning) to have “choir practice.” It has been difficult to watch her diminishment in health, but I think that her music was deep in her heart and soul as she continued to praise God.

In the remembrance that she sent, Sister Angela Susalla wrote in part:

I visited her in Florida while I was there on retreat. When I arrived she was practicing with her choral group for a performance which would be given in Europe in a few weeks. What I heard was beautiful. She was a talented musician. I believe she could get even the worst non-singer to sing.

When in Adrian, I visited with her. I remember when she was in the garden level, and I chatted with her. Even though her words did not always make sense, we were able to get her to play the piano once or twice. She played beautifully without any music, but became anxious quickly and then would stop playing. . . . A blessed moment for me happened one day. She held my hand, and after I prayed for her and said “goodbye,” she looked at me and said, “Bye.” I feel she heard much more than what we think she did.

Sister Patricia Eileen’s funeral liturgy was celebrated on June 1, 2011. Father Robert Kelly, OP, Motherhouse chaplain, was the presider and homilist. After the beautiful ceremony, her body was laid to rest in the Congregation cemetery.

She is now in the presence of the God she served so well, praising the Lord in music with the angels and with the sisters who preceded her.