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W Sisters returned to the schools where they taught and reunited with students, many of whom last saw them in black and white habits. They dress in sweaters and slacks now, wear sensible shoes and pretty jewelry, drive their own cars and live in shared homes. If there is a public statement on human rights and dignity to be made, they are in the crowd, holding signs, encouraging us to summon the truest elements of our faith and conscience to guide our actions. But, they make it clear, their community is aging. The 54 Tacoma Dominican sisters have a median age of 78, so there is a tinge of urgency to their 125th year fundraiser. They hope to raise $250,000 during the year and at their supper and auction Sept. 21, at the Marymount Event Center. The money will help keep them secure as they grow older, and it will support their work in the community. “Although we are small and aging, this has not stopped us from continuing our mission,” the sisters’ leadership team wrote in last winter’s edition of “Seekers of Truth,” their twiceyearly publication. “Sisters and Associates are engaged in working against Human Trafficking, working for Immigration Reform, tutoring in literacy programs, and working with the homeless. Ministries such as Catherine Place and Marymount Manor continue to have sisters and associates connected by serving on boards or volunteering in various capacities.” It’s that spirit and interpretation of God’s work that brought them and the 20 other communities of the Dominican Sisters Conference in the United States under investigation during Benedict XVI’s papacy. It is that same spirit that has earned the respect and affection of Tacomans. The Dominicans date back to the founding of Holy Cross Convent in Regensburg, Germany in 1233. In 1853, four sisters were sent to the United States to teach, and in 1888 three sisters boarded a train bound for Portland, where they thought they were to teach the children of German immigrants. Their plans were changed mid-trip, and
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they and the piano they brought with them were set off the train in Pomeroy. It was with relief bordering on joy that they transferred to Tacoma, where they founded St. Patrick School in 1893. “We still have three sisters who periodically work at St. Patrick’s, so that’s an unbroken connection,” said Sister Philomena McCarthy, O.P. “From 1888 to 1960, we staffed 29 schools in Washington and California.” One of them was Marymount Military Academy for boys, founded in 1922, with a Motherhouse and novitiate, on 90 acres in Spanaway. Like Sisters Esther Aherne, O.P, Ann Marie Lustig, O.P. and Sharon Casey, O.P., when she joined the order, Sister Philomena anticipated a lifetime of teaching, living in a dedicated residence, going wherever she was assigned, and wearing a habit. Everything in the order was of a pattern, then, and they were expected to fit that pattern. “Pope John XXIII opened a few windows and gave us a breath of fresh air,” Sister Philomena said. In 1963 they began an organized discussion of their role, said Sister Sharon. In 1967, they switched away from habits. By 1970, they had broadened their options beyond teaching to parish ministry, counseling and
caring for the elderly and the poor. “A couple of people went to South America, Nicaragua,” said Sister Ann Marie. “There were a few college professors.” “The decade of the ‘80s was the land use study,” said Sister Sharon. They had closed the military academy at Marymount in 1976, and discussed its possible uses. In 1988, their centennial year, they built Marymount Manor, 40 units of housing for low-income seniors. In 1990, they sold the rest of the property to Harold LeMay. “One of the things that attracted us to him was that he had a real sense of preserving history,” said Sister Sharon, a mistress of understatement. They set up Tacoma Dominican Center at 935 Fawcett Avenue S., and focused their considerable energies on urban problems. It amuses them that the building was once a gun shop, and that they have a firing range walled off in the basement. “The 1990s was really the beginning of our formal collaborations,” Sister Sharon said. They partnered with Mercy Housing, Sound Alliance, Intercommunity Peace and Justice, Catholic Community Services, Tacoma Police Department, L’Arche and others. They collaborate on
building low-income housing, providing services for the homeless and the addicted. They tutor and teach. They work against human trafficking and for comprehensive immigration reform, educating the public in forums and standing in protest. They helped found and still support Catherine Place, a spiritual retreat for women. “What’s needed sometimes are smaller actions to create greater awareness,” said Sister Ann Marie. What’s needed, too, are committed partners. The Tacoma Dominicans have, with deliberation and intention, changed to meet the needs of their home. They know their work, and the need for that work, will outlive them. Collaborations are the best insurance that the work will live on. And a celebration of how they have changed and all they have done, is due in their 125th year of serving Tacoma.
Mission Statement of the Tacoma Dominican Community
“Inspired by the spirit of Dominic and our foundresses, Sisters Thomasina, de Chantal and Aloysia. The Tacoma Dominicans respond to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Our Dominican tradition of contemplation impels us to collaborate in networks of spiritual, educational and political commitment to create a just society that addresses the basic human needs and ends the violence that erodes our planet.”
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