In Loving Memory...

Sister M. Raymund, CSC
(Ruth Julia Verhalen)
Birth: August 13, 1898
Profession: August 15, 1925
Death: April 1, 2005

When Sister Raymund Verhalen was born, on August 13, 1898, the famous Leo XIII was Pope. When she was five years old, he was replaced by St. Pius X. She lived through the complete reigns of Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I, but she declined to wait for John Paul II to finish his. She preceded him into eternity and presumably formed part of his welcoming committee.

Her parents were Steven Verhalen and Matilda Fox, both natives of Wisconsin, who had moved to Chicago by the time Ruth Julia was born. She had three brothers: George, who died in a car accident, Walter, who lived to be 99, and Raymund, the father of Father David Verhalen, who is here today, as he has faithfully been with great regularity during her last long years.

At some point early in her life – the exact year can no longer be determined – her family moved out of her Chicago birthplace and took up residence in Texas. Young Ruth Julia finished both grade school and high school at Saint Mary’s Academy in Marshall.

She entered the novitiate in June 1922 and made final profession in August 1928. She began her mission life as a teacher, and before her final profession she was moved almost every semester. This attempt to judge her suitability for teaching led to her being moved to the other column – she got two years’ tryout as a nurse’s assistant at Saint John’s Hospital in Anderson, and then began formal nurse’s training at Saint Alphonsus in Boise. She then did 16 years of professional nursing at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in South Bend, Mount Carmel in Columbus, and Saint Mary’s in Cairo.

Somewhere in her nursing days she met her friend Sister Magdala, who thereafter usually accompanied her home in the summer. One day the two of them went down to a pier to welcome the three brothers back with a catch of fish. One of the Sisters, whether Raymund or Magdala, God knoweth, slipped on the wet pier, grabbed at the other, and they both went into the water, flutes, collars and all. How they got what they needed to return to their missions is not recorded.

From the job of maintenance supervisor at Saint John’s in Anderson to stewardess at Saint Mary’s College was but a step. Then she had three quick years sharpening her talents for the post of maintenance supervisor at Saint Mary’s. We are now in the late fifties and early sixties, and some of you are beginning to find her in your own memories. She is credited, here at Saint Mary’s, with, among other things, clearing out the brush and wild grasses on the south side of the avenue and replacing them with the attractive sward we have now.

She left Saint Mary’s again to put in eight years as supervisor of the cafeteria at Saint Mary’s in Austin. Then she returned here, first to do foot care for the Sisters in the Convent, then to accept, at the age of 90, a ministry of prayer here in the Convent. Gradually she slipped into the state where all but God were excluded from her consciousness. She spent 17 years moving away from us in the direction of God, and at last she was admitted to the full presence, a few steps ahead of the Pope.

Written by Sister M. Georgia, CSC

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross Ministry With the Poor Fund, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.