7 minute read
In Memoriam
Sister Monica Mary, C.T.
Written by Sister Diana, C.T. Community of the Transfiguration
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(MONICA BEATRICE HEYES) JULY 22, 1925 – JULY 4, 2021
Life Professed October 18, 1957
Deeply faithful, determined, intrepid, hard-working, lover of books, studious, serious, adventuresome, curious, and idealistic are just some of the traits which come to mind when thinking about Sister Monica.
A northern Michigander, she was born to a Canadian father and English mother. Her father was a priest in the Episcopal Church, in charge of a variety of rural missions. She and her father were especially close; their relationship being deeply formative of her spirituality and her passion for liturgy. She was always eager to gain and share knowledge. She earned her BA in History and her Bachelor of Library Science at the University of Wisconsin. She writes that her most formative experience at that time was being a member of St. Francis House, the Episcopal student center on campus. “I went to church for myself and not for my family, served on Vestry, and was president of the Altar Guild. My thoughts first turned to the religious life during a mission given there by F. Bonnell Spencer, OHC, in Lent, 1945.”
Although she was an Associate of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, she found herself drawn to the Community of the Transfiguration through a book about religious communities and some newsletters from the ministry in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She was received as a Postulant on the Eve of St. Francis in 1953.
She started out using her Library Science degree helping out in the Convent library as well as substituting at Bethlehem Cottage. She would become an expert substitute for all kinds of jobs, always willing to do whatever was needed whenever she was needed. During her Novitiate and her first year Professed, she served as a Cottage Mother and taught 2nd grade at St. Simon’s School. Then her travels started.
In 1958 she was sent to Japan. Two years later she went to St. Andrew’s Priory in Honolulu where she served for ten years, teaching 7th grade and working on her MA in History. On her return to Glendale she found herself teaching at Bethany, serving as Novice Director, then Librarian before going to Lincolnton. When that ministry closed she plunged into convent life in the Library, working on the Quarterly, doing bulk mailing, chairing the Liturgical Committee, revising the Office of Lauds, and serving for many years as a Sister Trustee and as a member of Council. She served on many diocesan commissions in the dioceses where she served, completed the EFM course, and helped out wherever she was needed. For example, when there was a need for a Sister to spend some time in the Dominican Republic, Sr. Monica, shortly before her 80th birthday, happily volunteered to go. She returned twice after that first trip and loved it.
Sister Monica also loved to write. When she was at the The Priory in Hawai‘i, she wrote a play about Bishop Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky, a saint she greatly admired and whose name she thoroughly enjoyed saying. Late in her life, with the able assistance of Oblate Mattie Decker, she completed an excellent history of the Community of the Transfiguration entitled Women of Devotion.
She was also a great lover of music. Although she was told by a teacher when she was young that she could not carry a tune, she did not let that stop her from other expressions of an art that meant much to her. She studied both piano and organ, only giving up the latter when she could no longer manage the steep steps onto the organ bench. She also learned how to play the carillon, climbing the ladder up into the Chapel tower to play or to show off the bells into her late 70s. She continued to play the piano for worship until COVID stopped our singing, and continued to practice, daily, until shortly before her death.
Sister Monica had no idea how truly remarkable a woman and Sister she was. She referred to herself as “a bear of little brain,” a manifest inaccuracy. She was earnest, she was faithful and she took her vows seriously, even to accepting all the loving care she needed from the infirmary staff who loved her dearly. She was hard-working and caring. She lived the religious life in the Community of the Transfiguration with determination and joy, not missing an Office or a meeting until her body gave out and her Lord took her home.
In Memoriam
Anna Marie Kennedy passed peacefully on October 12, 2021, in Spokane, Washington, at the side of her husband, The Rev. David K. Kennedy. She is survived by her husband, four sons – Christopher, Paul (wife Joanne), Karl, and Eric – and ten wonderful grandchildren.
David and Anna Marie were married in 1956 in Madison. The officiant was Bishop Harry S. Kennedy, the groom’s father. They had celebrated 66 years of marriage in 2021, the year of Anna Marie’s passing.
The couple’s lives were heavily entwined with St. Andrew’s Priory School – Father Kennedy being a long-time Head of School and Mrs. Kennedy as Assistant Librarian for many years before retiring in 1998.
In retirement, Anna Marie kept very busy volunteering wherever she saw a need and felt she could help. Among her many activities, she was a volunteer at the Holy Nativity Church Thrift Shop. Anna Marie enjoyed taking care of her plants and had a plot in the Hawai‘i Kai Community Garden where she grew vegetables, giving away the surplus. Her favorite hobby was quilting, and she made countless beautiful quilts to give to family and friends and to help raise funds for needy families in the community.
At Anna Marie’s request, she wanted memorial contributions to be made to the Anna Marie and David Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Fund at St. Andrew’s Priory School. The fund will assist families with financial need who could not otherwise afford to send their children to St. Andrew’s Schools. Recipients shall exemplify strong Christian faith, work ethic, and perseverance through caring for others and serving the school and community.
Gifts in memory of Anna Marie Kennedy may be sent to:
St. Andrew’s Schools Attn: Anna Marie Kennedy Memorial Fund 224 Queen Emma Square Honolulu, HI 96813
Florence Takako Matsumoto Kuwashima ’86
Florence Takako Matsumoto Kuwashima ’86, passed away at home on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, in Torrance, CA. She attended The Priory from kindergarten through high school.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, with her two sisters, Mary and Christiana (Chrissie), “Flo” Kuwashima attended The Priory from kindergarten through high school. She was the senior class president of the graduating class of 1952. Flo was the school’s student organist for daily chapel services and an accomplished pianist and organist. At The Priory, Flo developed close, long-lasting friendships with Myrtle, Phyllis, Janet, Jeanne, Roberta, and others, with many of those friends spending time with her in the last years, months, and days of her life. Phyllis Shuck-Gee remembers meeting Flo at The Priory in 7th grade, where “we loved our recesses and lunch hour when we could amuse ourselves under the Ylang Ylang tree in conversations, games, etc.”
After completing graduate school at New York University, Flo married Terry Kuwashima. They moved to California, where she raised two children, Laurie and Gary, and taught full-time in the Los Angeles United School District for 34 years. Toward the end of Flo’s teaching career, she was selected as the 10th District’s Teacher of the Year in 2000. She became an active member at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Torrance, where she volunteered during her teaching career and afterward in retirement. She was the proud grandmother of two grandsons, Joseph and Michael Kuwashima.
Flo’s interests included music, theater, travel, and mystery novels. She was servant-hearted to all she cared for and supported St. Andrew’s Schools throughout her lifetime.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Sadamu and Shinayo Matsumoto, and her youngest sister, Chrissie. She is survived by sister Mary Matsumoto Miyamasu ’55.
Carolyn Mapuana Evenson-Dill ’71
Carolyn Mapuana Evenson passed on November 18, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. She was 67 years old. She is survived by her husband, David Michael Dill, daughters Jessie Rose Naupaka, Samantha Pualani, Melinda Likolehua, and son Mark Kupunihi. She also is survived in Hawai‘i by two sisters, Olivia Likolehua Evenson and Rosemary Ku‘ulei Burnett, along with many nephews, nieces, aunties, uncles, and cousins. Mapu and her husband Mike both went to Evergreen State College, where she studied Asian literature. Mapu had a great passion for learning and was an avid reader. Living in Woods, Oregon, she became the principal librarian of the Winkelman’s South County Library and later retired from the Tillamook County Library after 18 years.
She lived a regal life and was described as “a woman of peace who raised a strong family.” She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. There was a celebration of life held for her on January 30, 2021 (her birthday) in Oregon. Gifts made in her memory benefitted the St. Andrew’s Schools’ Lower School Library.
