Sister Mary Patrick McCarthy Way

 TRANSCRIPT

0:00
I’m Michael McCarthy and I’m the nephew of Sister Mary Patrick, Auntie Mary.

0:08
She had incredible memory for where people lived. And, so, all of her students, just from her memory, she could know their precise address, which apartment building they lived in.

0:20
The families knew that she was willing to listen to them and wanting to listen them and provide them with what she could with regards to education of their children.

[Acoustic guitar begins in background]

0:30
She was a very cheerful person and I never really saw her lose her temper. And I think people appreciated that about her, considering that she was juggling so many different things, and running a very large school with very limited resources for a community with limited resources.

0:52
One of my last memories was her, was when she had went into hospital. And then she discovered very suddenly that there was a very, very severe illness that she didn’t recover from. It was just a matter of weeks or days. But, writing notes on little post-its, scraps of paper.

1:12
Making sure that all the various substitutions were filled. Making sure that someone would be in the office to take phone calls. Making sure that kindergarten graduation would go off smoothly. So, that’s one very vivid memory of her. The last conscious moment where she’s giving instructions. Making sure that the end of the year faculty party was being taken care and that all the substitutions were being filled.

1:40
It was amazing. Because it was very clear to me that it wasn’t about her. Her life was a service and she really enjoyed it. Even to the end.