Sister Rose Celeste O’Connell, OP 1939-2018 “I am not worried because I know that my God will walk with me through this as He has all my life. We will take this one day at a time.” Those words, written by Sister Rose Celeste O’Connell in her autobiography the day after she was diagnosed with cancer, sum up her attitude about not only her battle with the disease but toward the rest of her life’s challenges as well. Sister Rose Celeste was born Mary Ann Theresa O’Connell on January 10, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, to Thomas Eugene and Edna Bernadette (Dion) O’Connell. Three children came into the family: a

son, Thomas, who died soon after birth; Mary Ann; and Elinor, born when Mary Ann was eight years old. The extended family on both Thomas’s and especially Edna’s sides were quite close, and gatherings with relatives were commonplace. But both Thomas and Edna worked as Mary Ann was growing up, and as a result she spent much of her time either with older adults, especially her paternal grandmother, or alone. “I learned to be somewhat independent at an early age,” she wrote. “I was such a tomboy from the beginning that I was always getting into trouble. Nothing stopped me if I had a mind to do it. In school I always got several checks in ‘self-control’ followed by statements that I could do much better if I tried.” The O’Connells moved around the Chicago area often in Mary Ann’s younger years, always looking for a better place to live, with the result that Mary Ann ended up attending five different Catholic grade schools. The family’s moves took them to Elmhurst, where they lived on five acres and raised vegetables and chickens; to a third-floor apartment on Central and Lake streets in Chicago; to Oak Park; and finally to Schiller Park, where they had to live in an empty store until their house was ready to move into. Sister Rose Celeste remembered in her autobiography that Elinor called it “the buggy store” because whenever the butcher next door sprayed, all the bugs would come into their space. When the family settled in Schiller Park, Mary Ann, who was in fifth grade by that point, at first attended St. Elizabeth School in Bensenville because the school in Schiller Park only went through fourth grade. But the bus ride was long, and soon she was attending St. Celestine’s in Elmwood Park, which also required a bus ride but the schedule worked out better. Sister Rose Celeste wrote in her autobiography that she wanted to be one of two things when she grew up: a nun or an Olympic speed skater. “I won medals in Chicago for speed skating. Probably all my experience running away from trouble helped.” Being at St. Celestine’s introduced her to the Adrian Dominicans, whose influence sealed her goal of entering religious life. On June 28, 1953, after graduating from eighth grade, she and her classmate and friend Barbara Stanek entered the Congregation’s Preparatory School together. It was a challenging program, but she loved it, and it further cemented her desire to become an Adrian Dominican. And so, in late 1954, she wrote to Mother Gerald Barry requesting admittance as a postulant. She entered on February 2, 1955, and was received as a novice that August 4. It was then that she received the religious name which she kept for the rest of her life.

She made profession in August 1956 and was immediately sent out to teach at St. Jude’s in Detroit. Four years later, in 1960, she was missioned to St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores, Florida. It was her first time ever to a place other than Illinois or Michigan, and “I loved Florida from the start,” she wrote. “The ocean became my special place to get in touch with God. Even today, when I am by the sea, I feel God’s presence strongly.” In addition to teaching, she helped mentor two very different groups of Cuban Sisters who had fled Castro’s regime and lived in the convent for a time. The next year, Sister Rose Celeste was changed to Rome, Georgia, where she stayed until March 1964. At that point, she was sent back to Florida, spending three months at St. Ann’s in West Palm Beach before returning to St. Rose of Lima in June. Assignments to St. Anastasia’s in Fort Pierce, Florida (1969-1975); St. Bede’s in Montgomery, Alabama (1975-1979); St. Francis of Assisi, Riviera Beach, Florida (1979-1983); and again at St. Ann’s (1983-84) followed. Sister Rose Celeste served as principal in the last three of those assignments and, at St. Anastasia’s, was appointed superior. As she and other newly appointed superiors were on their way home from “Superior School” in Detroit, however, the delegates to that summer’s General Chapter session decided to do away with superiors in favor of coordinators. Like many other unexpectedly former superiors, she was elected coordinator of her house. During those years, she earned her bachelor’s degree in art and her master’s in guidance and counseling, both from Barry College (University). She also had the experience, while teaching in Fort Pierce, of working with Sister Mary Kenneth Duwelius to help refugees from Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America learn English. These were medical professionals who needed to learn English so they could pass their board exams to practice in the U.S., and “I remain touched by the diligence and patience of these former brain surgeons learning to say ‘ship’ and ‘sheep’ and master our idioms,” she wrote. In 1982, Sister Rose Celeste’s life took a turn which shaped her and her ministry forever: she entered treatment for alcoholism in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And from that point on, she was completely open about her struggle and her sobriety – which lasted the rest of her life – and she used her experience to help others. “With recovery underway, my religious vocation took on a whole new dimension,” she wrote. “There was a growing personal relationship with the Risen Christ and a deeper commitment to be about His healing mission of peace and justice.” And so, after completing the treatment program, she went on to Clinical Pastoral Education training and was certified in substance abuse counseling. Once back in West Palm Beach, she became a hospital pastoral minister and then was on the staff of Hanley-Hazelden, a treatment center for alcoholics and addicts. Then, in 1990, she was asked by Sister Nadine Foley, Prioress of the Congregation, and the General Council to become Secretary of the Congregation. “In my heart, I knew that this is what God wanted, but I desperately hated leaving my friends, Florida, and the work I loved so much,” she wrote. She spent the next twenty-six years in that post, working with five General Councils and over time adding on the job of Director of the Office of Information as well as serving in leadership roles in the wider Dominican community. But she also continued her ministry to people in recovery, leading an

annual retreat for women at Weber Center for many years. And although she stepped down from her position as Secretary in 2016, she continued to head up the Office of Information. On November 9, 2016, Rose Celeste was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, news which she met with the same strong faith in God that she had re-discovered during her recovery all those years earlier. She lost her battle with the disease a year and a half later, early in the morning of May 17, 2018. At her Vigil service, held the evening of May 20, Sister Mary Jane Lubinski, Prioress of the Adrian Crossroads Chapter, remembered Sister Rose Celeste as “a valiant woman who lived life to the fullest.” Sister Pat Farrell, Executive Director of the Dominican Sisters Conference, recalled Sister Rose Celeste’s service on the conference’s executive committee. “Rose made friends across the country, sisters that still remember her graciousness, her kindness, and her enjoyment of fun,” she said. “… No job was too big for Rose because she could get it into manageable chunks. That skill must have helped her maintain her gentle spirit that she carried with her while paying attention to every detail, unruffled. … Gentleness is the virtue that expresses Rose. Gentleness of speech, gentle eyes, a gentle smile, and soft, warm, gentle laughter. May all of us carry Rose’s spirit of gentleness with us in this world so deeply in need of gentleness.” Sister Rose’s beloved sister Elinor also spoke at the service. “Rose was my best friend, my counselor, my confidante, she was strong and brave, never afraid to do scary things,” she said, recalling that Sister Rose was the one who would take Elinor’s son on scary rides at Busch Gardens. “I was so proud of her when she went into treatment for alcoholism and all the women she subsequently helped,” Elinor continued. “She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, an athlete, an artist, a musician, a fisherwoman – not only surf fishing but deep sea fishing, and she taught all of us how to do it as well. She was a golfer, a wonderful aunt and great-aunt, and most of all a leader. She loved her cats. She loved all cats. She was a holy woman but she let those around her be themselves. … Most of all, Rose was loved by everyone who had the privilege of knowing her, and what more could any of us ask at the end of our lives?” Sister Carol Johannes preached the homily at the next day’s funeral Mass, remembering Sister Rose in the context of the day’s readings: the “valiant woman” passage from Proverbs and the Gospel story of the paralytic whose friends lowered him through a roof to where Jesus was.

When there was work to be done, Rose could be counted on: generous, faithful, unflappable, no delicate ego, a totally solid citizen, a “valiant woman” indeed.

… And what a perfect gospel for Rose we have in the Lucan narrative. … Knowing Rose the way I do, and having canoed down the Huron River with her and Dorothy Guettler more than once in the past, I have absolutely no trouble imagining her joining a group who scale the wall, remove the roof tiles and help lower the young man so that he lands at the feet of Jesus. Rose would do this without thinking twice, because someone was in trouble and needed help.

… The beauty of her life and the richness of her friendship have given confidence to us, her sisters, her family and her friends, that as she enjoys the ineffable beauty and goodness of God, she may remember all of us who love her and are still on the journey home.

Left: Sister Rose Celeste with her parents and her sister Elinor at St. Jude’s in Detroit, 1957.

Left: Sister Rose Celeste, far left, then Secretary of the Congregation, poses with former Secretaries during the 2002 Gathering, from left: Sisters Grace Flowers, Marie Wiedner, Kathleen Walli, Mary Ward, and Helen Sohn. Not shown is Sister Mary Catherine Jordan.

Celebrating Sister Carol Bollin’s Golden Jubilee in 2008 are, from left, Sisters Rose Celeste O’Connell, Dorothy Guettler, Carol Johannes, Carol Bollin, Andrea Broutin, and Helen Sohn.

Left: Sisters Barbara Stanek, left, and Rose Celeste dress as twins for their Jubilee. Right: Sisters Joan Sustersic, left, and Rose Celeste O’Connell

Left: Members of the Hand Bell Choir are, from left, Sisters Mary Alice Naour, Rose Celeste O’Connell, Mary Louise Gass, and Barbara Gass.

Members of the 2015 Diamond Jubilee Class, August Crowd, are: back row, Sisters Marilyn Winter, Rose Celeste O’Connell, Carol Coston, Helen Therese Mayer, and Rita Rose Sieg, and front row, from left, Sisters Mary Ann Ennis, Barbara Ann Stanek, Frances Mary Fitzpatrick, and Therese E. Allgeyer.