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Ursulines ALIVE
Flynns support the Sisters who model “faith in action”
It was a bit of a culture shock for Jayne Flynn in 1978 when she left Rochester, N.Y. – with a population of 241,000 people – to come to Owensboro, Ky., then a city of about 54,000.
Her husband was transferred to Owensboro to run the local Ragu plant. She credits a great improvement in her mental health to the day she began working at Brescia College and befriended several of the Ursuline Sisters.
“I met these wonderful, intelligent women and they became my friends,” Jayne said. “I just loved them.”
In 1988, George Flynn was transferred to Connecticut with his company, and the Flynns have lived there ever since. Although it has been 34 years since the Ursuline Sisters have been part of Jayne’s daily life, the Flynns have remained faithful supporters of the Sisters.
“I think my first impression was that this is what ‘faith in action’ is all about,” Jayne said. “They didn’t just talk about faith, but lived it in what they did at Brescia and all the other communities that were lucky enough to have their service.”
The Ursulines were also “women of their times” as their foundress, Saint Angela Merici, instructed them, Jayne said.
“As conditions in the community changed, they adapted to new situations and, in many cases, improved the community,” she said. “A good example is when they closed the school at the Mount and created an outstanding retreat center.”
Jayne’s training was in nursing, and for her first several years in Owensboro she worked at Mercy Hospital. She was mostly scheduled for night duty, but with three children at home, she looked for something to better fit her life. With Brescia in the midst of a capital campaign in 1983, the school president, Sister George Ann Cecil, hired Jayne as the secretary for the development office.
“The director of development left and Sister George Ann hired a woman, then asked me to be assistant director,” Jayne said. When the woman who was hired as director decided she didn’t want the job, Sister George Ann asked Jayne to be development director.
“I’d never done that type of work, but she said she would teach me. And she did,” Jayne said. “She was a very charismatic person.”
Shortly after Jayne became development director, Sister George Ann named Sister DeChantal Whelan as the grant writer. Sister DeChantal – known as “DC” by her friends, students and faculty – was a legendary English professor at Brescia known for her trailblazing ways. When Sister George Ann told Jayne that Sister DeChantal was now working for her, Jayne responded, “DC doesn’t work for anybody but God.”
When Sister George Ann died of cancer in 1985, Sister Ruth Gehres took over as Brescia’s president, forging a bond with Jayne that continues today.
“It was a very emotional time,” Jayne said. “We worked hard, supported each other, mourned together, and then supported our new president. We became more than co-workers. We became friends.”
After the Flynns moved to Connecticut, some of the Sisters visited them over time, Jayne said. They included Sister Ruth,
Sister Michele Morek, Sister Julia Head and Sister Judith Nell Riney.
In 2009, when Sister Ruth served with Sister Mimi Ballard at Casa Ursulina in Chillán, Chile, the Flynns decided to visit the Ursuline ministry. What they saw had a great impact on them, and in recent years the Flynns have made their donations to the Sisters specifically for
Jayne and George Flynn, pictured at left, visited Casa Ursulina in Chile in 2009. Sister Mimi Ballard is seated across from Jayne and Sister Ruth Gehres is seated at Jayne’s right.
