In Loving Memory...

Sister Miriam Andre, CSC
(Miriam Andre Williams)
Birth: December 2, 1916
Profession: August 15, 1952
Death: April 23, 2007

Today we remember the “good news” of the life of Sister Miriam Andre. How fitting that she went home to God on the day after the whole church celebrated that down-to-earth, homey manifestation of the Risen Christ fixing breakfast on the beach for his friends—so evocative of Miriam’s life.

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1916 to Edward and Elizabeth Toomey Williams, Miriam was the oldest of three children. She loved her dear sisters Mary Louise and Kitty and her cousins so much. Those family parties, wherever they happened, were such a medley of food, fun and laughter that the thought of their heavenly reunion gives a whole new meaning to the notion of “heavenly banquet”! Proud to be a Southerner, she embodied every bit of the warmth, graciousness and hospitality that marks the culture in which she grew up. She also loved to point out to me, a Northerner, that the Confederate soldier on the war memorial in Alexandria had his back to the North. And when Jimmy Carter was elected president, she got up early and decorated the regional house with banners that said, “The South has risen again!”

She was educated by Holy Cross sisters at “little” Saint Mary’s and Saint Mary’s Academy. She attended Dunbarton and Saint Mary’s colleges, earning a business degree and putting it to use for 15 years with the International Association of Mechanics. During World War II she proudly served as a Red Cross nurse in several of the local hospitals.

She entered the congregation in 1950 and taught business at a number of high schools in the East before becoming principal of St. Patrick’s Academy in Washington, D.C. Her own leadership skills and ability to keep a cool head in a crisis were tested in 1966 when the city of Washington erupted in riots after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She and the sisters at St. Patrick’s became responsible for the safety and evacuation of the student body. We should not be surprised at the number of Holy Cross vocations that were nurtured at St. Patrick’s nor at the leadership these sisters have exercised in many venues.

Miriam’s gifts for leadership were called upon early and often in local, provincial and regional responsibilities. She served on the boards of Holy Cross and Mount Carmel hospitals and on the archdiocesan school board.

But Miriam wore authority lightly. When she was called to leadership in the Eastern Secondary Region after Sister Mary Jane Honan was elected to general leadership, many of us teased her because Mary Jane had been renominated by all the sisters in the region to serve a second term. We teased Miriam about having to fill such large shoes, and Miriam countered that actually Mary Jane had smaller feet, but she took longer steps—a great tribute to Mary Jane’s leadership. 

To Miriam, being in a leadership role simply meant service. Whether it was fixing a meal, visiting a sister or family member who needed comfort, listening, decorating and gardening—the list goes on. Her ability to be comfortable with herself put others at ease. At the end of the day, or sooner, her signature move—kicking off her shoes and putting up her feet—captured again the ease of being in her presence. 

She was the warm, expansive heart of every local community in which she lived. My heart goes out especially to the sisters at Holy Cross Academy with whom she spent her last 25 years in the East.

Miriam savored life—people, beauty, travel, shopping. Her eye for beauty brightened many a room and her zest for decorating, especially at Christmas, is legendary. She lived her life fully and generously.

A compassionate listener and oh-so-wise counselor, she helped many of us become our better and stronger selves in times of personal pain, failure or discouragement. Her own personal pain, either physical or the emotional pain of losing loved ones, never interfered with her capacity to give comfort. 

When I shared the news of her death with my own family, one cousin said, “You didn’t need to be around her in order to think about her and get joy and happiness.” This reaction was echoed in an e-mail from an Academy of the Holy Cross graduate. My other cousin likened her to the fine bone china teacups she had given to two sick members of our family—exquisite quality and beauty, crafted to contain the incomparable comfort of a cup of tea!

Miriam’s own spirituality was uncomplicated and solid. She trusted and rested in the steadiness of God’s love, God and his Blessed Mother. When we lived together, one of her favorite hymns was “Only a Shadow.” And so I’ll end by saying, “Miriam, thank you for casting such an encompassing and enveloping shadow of God’s love for us. The love we have for you, dear one, is only a shadow of God’s love for you and now of your love for us. Pray for us, dear Miriam, as we will pray to and for you!”

Written by Sister Rachel Anne Callahan, 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.