In Loving Memory...

Sister Lauretta Kearney, CSC
(Sister M. Malachy)
Birth: January 24, 1926
Profession: February 2, 1946
Death: March 26, 2007

Today we come to celebrate Sister Lauretta Kearney’s life among us as we remember that life with gratitude.

Although her parents, Henry Joseph Kearney and Elizabeth Mary Coyle, were married in Los Angeles, California, in 1923, the family roots were deeply in Irish soil. Lauretta was the second oldest of six siblings born just before the Great Depression, a different time in which to raise a family.

The family was always close to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and was instrumental in bringing the congregation to establish schools in Fresno, California. Lauretta attended St. Agnes Parish School in Los Angeles from grade school through high school. She was prepared for her ministry of education with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and a specialty in mathematics. Subsequently, as her field of ministry changed, she also received a master’s degree in geriatric mental health counseling.

Thirty years were spent in ministry to junior high school students in California, Utah and Washington. When a student sent her a letter addressed to “Sister Malarkey,” she decided it was time to resume her baptismal name! Her brilliance enabled her to assist others in their effort to teach mathematics. There are two sisters present in the congregation this morning who taught Lauretta: Sister Elizabeth Marie and Sister Dolata. In different conversations, their comments were identical: “She was the brightest student I ever taught.” This from women who taught many students. They also commented on her unassuming acceptance of these unusual talents.

We have spoken of these visible gifts of Sister Lauretta. What of her personhood? It is always difficult to try to capture in a memento the deepest aspect of life, the mysterious relationship at the still point of being with God. We know Lauretta had a strong sense of justice and spoke courageously to issues of violence and the need for systematic change. She supported Archbishop Hunthauser of Seattle in his efforts for justice and received his gratitude in appreciation of her efforts.

But perhaps we can best have an awareness of her spiritual center by the way she moved through suffering in so many ways. In the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, her prayer may have been:

“I want to know Christ and the power flowing from his resurrection; likewise to know how to share in his sufferings by being formed in the pattern of his death ....”

She could also say with Paul:

“It is not that I have reached it yet or have already finished my course finally; I have been grasped by Christ Jesus.”

Yes, Lauretta, you have finished the course, been grasped by Christ, and now know the fullness of life.

All will be well; all is well.

Written by Sister M. Olivia Marie, 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.