In Loving Memory...

Sister Alicia Marie, CSC
(Hilda Elizabeth Maloney)
Birth: September 14, 1908
Profession: January 6, 1935
Death: July 1, 2007

Sister Alicia Marie, Hilda Maloney, was born on the Feast of the Holy Cross, September 14, 1908, and will celebrate her 99th birthday in heaven as the Catholic Church beatifies Basil Moreau, the founder of the congregations of Holy Cross, in Le Mans, September 14, 2007. Can’t you just see her dancing that little jig she danced with her great smile, saying “Ta Da!”

Hilda Elizabeth Maloney was born in Murrayville, a small rural community about 11 miles outside of Jacksonville, Illinois. Alice and John Maloney had eight children, five girls: Margaret, Lena, Loretta, Hilda and her twin sister Helen; and three boys: Francis, Robert and Leonard. Alicia loved her family and if you ever lived with her, her family became like your family, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces down to the great nieces and nephews. Her brother Leonard and his family were particularly close to Alicia. Alicia’s twin sister, Helen, died at 2 years of age and Alicia told the tale that she, too, became very ill at this time and for some reason, and somehow, she reached out for a spring green onion. After the first green onion she kept asking for more and eating them. Alicia survived and the family claims that onions saved her life. If you ever lived with her you will recall how Alicia loved and craved green onions. Perhaps she would have us think that the onions were the secret to her long life!

As we prepared for this liturgical celebration, the Alicia Marie stories were told. It was amazing how common experiences emerged. It did not matter if they had known her in her youth or as she aged, or out on mission in Boise, Fresno, Mission Hills, Saint Catherine’s, or here at Saint Mary’s. The stories described Alicia as a happy, gracious, kind, talented and compassionate person. They spoke of Alicia’s love of life and people, and the way she embodied the beautiful spirit of Holy Cross hospitality. Alicia, they reminded us, was never happier than when she was feeding one, two, 10 or a whole hospital. It was Alicia’s way of being of service to others.

Alicia attended Murrayville Grade School and Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois, before she entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1932. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College with a BS degree in dietetics and a minor in English. She completed a dietetic internship at Saint Mary’s, Rochester, Minnesota. As a dietitian she was quick to point out that she was trained at the Mayo. Sister Alicia Marie was an outstanding dietitian and excelled in her field. She worked hard and expected the same from her staff. She would always find a way to make people laugh, and people loved her joyous spirit. On more than one occasion she was called out of her adopted West to troubleshoot on a problem at faraway hospitals but always to return to the West. Alicia was a hospital administrator in Fresno for one term, and because of this experience would put herself out for each of the new administrators, like Sisters Beverly Ann, Carolita and myself. She was always there for us.

I must tell a tale from Mission Hill’s days; Alicia must have been in her early 70s and was working on the reception desk in the hospital lobby. An exasperated young man, who had been waiting a long time to be interviewed for a job, came up to her and asked, “Just how long did you have to wait to get your job?” “Seventy years,” she responded, “and it was worth the wait.”

Sister Alicia Marie was a community woman who was always seeking ways to journey together, as well as finding ways of enjoying a little fun along the way. Alicia had an uncanny gift of anticipating your needs, sometimes before you even knew you had a need! She found ways to nourish your spirit as well as your hunger. One person called it sheer kindness. I think all of us, whoever lived with her in community, would call her a friend. She also had a small cadre of very close friends during life that helped to sustain each other in their times of need, like Sisters Laurencita, Theresa Margaret and Ann Patrice and others. But it was the younger sisters she watched over, findings ways to encourage, sustain and companion them in Holy Cross.

Perhaps it was Alicia’s compassionate heart that made her loved. She felt deeply the pain of others. She would stand with people in their time of need, and by her quiet presence, prayer and love encourage them to trust God and go on. Many crises happened to the people in the San Fernando Valley area after the ’71 earthquake and Alicia dared to risk being there for the people—and the people have not forgotten her.

Alicia’s faith was rooted in the Gospel and she had a great love of Mary. She was a loyal daughter of Moreau. Alicia also found the presence of God in nature. She loved nature. If it was possible, she always wanted to go the long way to or from Oxnard, taking the route along the Pacific Coast Highway to see the ocean. All of a sudden out of the backseat would come this voice proclaiming, “God bless God!” So often we would hear that phrase when she encountered God in the beauty of nature. Some may question the theological correctness of the statement, but it did say it all: How beautiful to meet God in God’s creation.

Before closing, there is an interesting coincidence in her life. Sister Alicia Marie entered the congregation on July 1, 1932, and died 75 years later on July 1, 2007. She is an unofficial diamond jubilarian.

Jesus calls us to love one another and so she did, and along the way she laughed and she danced and fed the multitudes. Today we say “God bless God” for giving us Sister Alicia Marie. Ta Da!

Written by Sister Ruth Marie Nickerson, 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.