A religious sister and Millbury fixture turns 100

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

MILLBURY – When one worshipper entered the church before Mass, the congregation applauded.

At the end of Mass, they sang “Happy Birthday” as flowers and a cake were brought to her and she beamed. Afterwards in the hall she was greeted by a larger cake, balloons, and well-wishers.

Why all this attention for one birthday girl – even though she is a Sister of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin?

Let’s let the honoree, Sister Jeanne Richard, explain.

When asked what the day was like for her, she responded, “It was very impressive … sitting in my own pew and seeing the statues and everything there. It felt so good to be in my own church.” (She was referring to Our Lady of the Assumption, one of two church buildings of St. Brigid and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish.)

“This is something special, because today [is] my 100th birthday,” she explained, needlessly. (If it wasn’t, she said, she’d be watching Mass on television.)

What does it feel like to be 100?

“It feels [like] a blessing,” Sister Jeanne replied. “I was born on Labor Day in 1925.” She said “it was a work of labor” for her mother, and every year on her birthday she looks at a picture of her mother and says, “Thank you for giving me life and that I can walk and don’t have to use a wheelchair.”

Walking, she maintained, is her secret for staying in good health – and her remedy for weight gain. She uses a walker, but gets herself to the dining room at CareOne at Millbury, the skilled nursing facility where she lives. She says some other residents just sit in their rooms waiting for meals to be delivered.

Her advice, after 100 years of life is this: “Don’t sit there and watch TV all day; get up and walk.”

Her ministry there?

“I wave at [other residents] when I walk by.”

“She told me she talks about her faith with people” there, added Deborah Riedle, pastoral associate.

Sister Jeanne’s ministry in town has spanned more than half her life.

Father Daniel R. Mulcahy Jr., pastor of St. Brigid and Our Lady of the Assumption, noted, in a tribute to her Sunday, that Psalm 90 says, “The days of our life are 70 years, or perhaps 80, if we are strong.” He added, “That may well be true for most of us mere mortals, but it is most certainly not true for the dear woman we honor today as she celebrates her 100th birthday. … She must be very, very strong indeed and we here in Millbury have been very, very blessed to have had Sister live and work among us for more than 53 of those 100 years!”

He gave a brief biography, as Sister Jeanne herself had done when speaking to The Catholic Free Press for her 90th birthday. Let’s look at snapshots of this life.

Sister Jeanne was born on Sept. 7, 1925, educated by the Sisters of the Assumption in Salem, and “left home Jan. 31, 1945” to join them.

She received formation at the sisters’ motherhouse in Nicolet, Quebec, Canada, making her first profession on June 14, 1947, and her final vows on Aug. 14, 1950.

From 1947-1967 she taught primary grades at St. Peter Elementary in Northbridge, and in Dracut, as well as Nasonville, Rhode Island; Barton, Vermont; and Greenville, New Hampshire. In Northbridge and Nasonville she was also principal and superior of the community.

Praying for a change, she volunteered to learn the Montessori method of education and helped start a Montessori school in Petersham, then one at Assumption Elementary in Millbury, where she taught from 1971-1990. She called those her “best years of teaching.”

“I had her in preschool at Montessori” 34 years ago, Kathleen Desorcy Colón told The Catholic Free Press Sunday. “She was a little strict, but she was good with learning and discipline.”

“I always remember her as a wonderful teacher; she loved all her kids,” said Jessica Belsito, a Montessori student from 1985-1887.

“I have vivid memories of her; she was so excited.” Her own children know Sister Jeanne from church and Assumption Elementary; two – Florence and Cash Kahl – were altar servers at Sunday’s Mass.  

“My children went to her school,” said Jean Rice. “She’s been one of my best friends for 50 years.” She said Sister Jeanne was her confirmation sponsor, and they went to the theater, circus, and The Big E together and played marbles in a local park.

Mrs. Rice said that when Sister Jean was given a retirement trip and the person who was to go with her couldn’t, she, herself, took the fun-loving nun to Disney World.

But Sister Jeanne wasn’t the retiring type.

After teaching, she entered the Diocese’s Master Catechist program, specializing in adult education. She led Bible studies until 2009, and also lectored, ministered to shut-ins, led communion services, and washed altar cloths. Father Mulcahy said she “gently told the pastors at Assumption what they could and could not do,” and brought meals to the Mustard Seed soup kitchen.

In 1985 she initiated her congregation’s lay associate program in this area.

“She was … always guiding us at meetings and she was always able to instill the faith in us,” commented Aline Bourdeau, one of the Associates of the Sisters of the Assumption celebrating with Sister Jeanne on Sunday.

“She’s the most faithful … prayerful lady … very faithful to her friends,” said Sister Judy Guertin, a fellow Sister of the Assumption. “Others always came first.” She spoke of Sister Jeanne’s multiple photo albums and lists of Montessori students and said “her life is written down.”

Sister Judy Curley, another Sister of the Assumption, said she was inspired when Sister Jeanne told her – at age 99 – “I have a mission here” at CareOne.

“I’ve known Sister since she got here” to Millbury, said Pauline D’Auteuil, who attended Assumption Elementary but did not have her as a teacher. “She’s been special to me. This is why I wanted to do this party. … Not many people get to 100 and I think she deserved it.”