Fun Nuns Were Step Sisters, Too

 

When growing up, I didn’t think I had step relatives.  I did have nuns as relatives, and only later fully understood that they were step sisters to my grandmother.  The nun role far, far eclipsed the step sister role. 

When the nuns visited each summer, it was a momentous event at our house.  Grandma lived with us in New York, so the two sisters would come from Massachusetts to visit her.  My mother would start weeks before cleaning the whole house, planning menus, arranging outings and special events, coordinating neighbors to stop by and visit with the sisters, and I would give up my room to the two sisters.   They came from the Sisters of Providence Mother House in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and would generally stay for two weeks.  Holyoke is a small city in south-west Massachusetts.  We occasionally visited them in Holyoke too.  

 Sisters of Providence Mother House (convent) in Holyoke, MA, about 1932.  Courtesy of sisofprov.org webpage. 

Their presence was such a big deal because they were nuns.  But they were pretty easy house guests, to my mind, and they were unpredictable and fun.  Much more fun than you might think.  Besides the whirlwind of events we went to, it was pretty easy to suggest a stop for ice cream, for example, to which the sisters would exclaim immediate excitement and so my parents stopped.  We went to shows down at Jones Beach and musicals at Westbury Music Fair.  My parents and grandma were probably exhausted when they left but I had a pretty good time.

It was only in the later years when I realized the step-sister relationship they had to grandma.   I asked a few questions but not enough.  Like so many of you, I wish I had asked more!  But I have been able to piece together most of the story.  

 Sisters Felicitas (left) and Emerita, with me, in the front yard of our house in New York in 1969. 

My grandma was Louise Fennelly Woodward. She was born in 1897 in Worcester, MA, the second born child of John Fennelly and Katherine Prendergast.   Her older sister, Irene, was born in 1896, following the marriage of parents John and Katherine on 9 October 1895 in Worcester, MA.   Three other children followed:  Mildred, Anthony and Veronica.   

 This 1895 marriage record of John Fennelly and Katharine Prendergast was supplied by the Massachusetts Archives.  Note Prendergast is spelled incorrectly. 

But there were older children from John’s first marriage to Maria Maher, who must have died around 1890-91.  I have not been able to find much on Maria (more work to do) but it appears she was mother to four children:  Nellie, Gertrude, Jennie and John, and that they lived in Connecticut at the time.   Of this group, it is Nellie and Gertrude that I will focus on.  But I knew them as Sister Emerita and Sister Felicitas. 

Emerita and Felicitas entered the Order of the Sisters of Providence in 1904 and 1903, respectively, and adopted their new names.  I know this information conclusively from a lovely memorial write-up the current Historian at the order sent to me following my inquiry.  (If you have relatives who lived a religious life, consider reaching out for details, the process was simple.) 

Emerita, who was much the quieter of the two sisters, was born in 1885 in New Britain, CT, followed two years later by Felicitas.  Roughly speaking, these sisters were 10 years older than the older sisters from the second marriage.   When you are young, ten years can seem like a lifetime and I wonder if the gap between the older sisters and the younger children was awkward.  By my calculations, Felicitas would have been 16 when she entered the order in 1903 and Emerita 19 when she joined in 1904.   From today’s vantage point, I wonder about the judgment in allowing these two young girls to commit their lives to the sisterhood at such tender ages.  But, of course, these events happened from a different vantage point and perhaps it was widely celebrated. 

 Sister Felicitas in 1911, eight years after she entered the order.  The Historian of Sisters of Providence found this photograph in the archives. 

In the 1900 census (such a great resource), John and second wife Katherine were living in Worcester with a large household including the four eldest children from the first marriage, and three of the younger children, Irene, Louise, and Mildred an infant.  Anthony and Veronica were not yet born.  John was a brass moulder and Katherine had come to America from County Mayo, Ireland, around 1885, marrying John Fennelly in 1895. 

I do remember hearing conversation among the sisters and my grandmother which revealed that Katherine was a devout Catholic and somewhat stern mother and step-mother.  However, with that many children to shepherd, one could say that Katherine had the imperative to keep order.  

 The Sisters of Providence Historian sent me this undated photo, where Sisters Felicitas and Emerita are sitting in the very front. 

Sisters Emerita and Felicitas had successful careers as nurses within the order.  Emerita died at age 84 in 1970, and Felicitas at age 91 in 1978.