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Thursday, October 26, 2000
N®ws
The Southern Cross, Page 3
“Let’s hear it for the ladies!”: some women of note
in the Savannah Diocese
F ive women exemplify the con
tribution made by countless of
their sisters to the Catholic
| Church in the Diocese of
I Savannah.
Mamie Kelly
Back in the 1930s and ‘40s
when “Mamie” Kelly played the
piano at school productions in
Savannah, everybody snapped to
Rita H. attention. Mary Reilly Kelly’s
DeLorme actions often evoked this
response. A lifelong resident of
Savannah, Mrs. Joseph E. Kelly’s civic, cultural and
religious involvement spanned many activities and
groups. Her lengthy tenure as president of the Marist
and Cathedral Parent-Teachers Associations and her
dedication to charitable organizations such as the
Little Sisters of the Poor, Saint Mary’s Home,
Pinecrest Nursing Home, the Red Cross and Cancer
Societies, the Tree of Light and the Needlework
Guild for the Needy remain legendary to this day.
The resounding energy with which Mrs. Kelly played
liturgical music at the Cathedral of Saint John the
Baptist during her twenty years as organist there still
echoes in the memory of many an older Savan-
nahians. In 1939, she won recognition for the work
she had done for Marist School in Savannah, and
became the first woman ever to receive a Marist
Fellowship Award. In 1953, “Mamie” Kelly, silver-
haired and elegant, was designated a recipient of the
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal by Pope Pius XII in
recognition of her devotion to her church. When
Mary Kelly, widow of Joseph E. Kelly, died on July
21, 1961, two daughters and three sons and her sister,
Mrs. Patrick Brennan, survived her. Also surviving
this vigorous and involved woman were memories of
a life devoted to worthwhile causes of every kind.
Mary Ann Prendergast
The same could be said of an earlier Catholic
woman named Mary who was amazingly active in
doing good works and supporting her church during
the 1800s, an era when women’s involvement was
largely confined to their homes. Mary Ann Prender
gast was also musically inclined, being the first
organist of Savannah’s Cathedral. Natives of Ireland,
Mary Ann Prendergast and her husband, Michael,
supported the church in various ways. On her own,
Mary Prendergast raised hundreds of dollars to help
finance care of orphans by the Sisters of Mercy at
Saint Vincent’s. Savannah’s first bishop, Francis X.
Gartland, died of yellow fever in the Prendergasts’
home, despite Mary Ann’s efforts to save his life.
In 1865, with Union forces encamped at the
Cathedral Cemetery, Mrs. Prendergast, along with
two Sisters of Mercy and a black helper, moved the
bodies of Bishop Gartland, his friend, Bishop
Edward Barron, who had also perished of yellow
fever, and four Sisters of Mercy to the courtyard of
the convent of the Sisters of Mercy. When the Civil
War ended and the cemetery was reconsecrated, the
bodies were reinterred there. The “epitome of chari
ty,” Mary Ann Prendergast died on December 22,
1896. Widowed decades earlier and having lost a
son in the Civil War, this good Catholic woman was
survived by only four of her eleven children.
Marguerite Sherrill
Like Mrs. Prendergast and Mrs. Kelly, Marguerite
Sherrill (Mrs. Samuel W.) was also a wife and moth
er. Bom in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, she led a full
and interesting life. Like Mary Reilly Kelly, Mrs.
Sister M. Julian Griffin, VSC
Sherrill was also honored with the Pro Ecclesia et
Pontifice Award for her service to the church.
Founder of the library at Pacelli High School and, in
retirement, a longtime volunteer at the library of
Saint Anne School in Columbus, Marguerite Sherrill
came to both posts well-qualified. She had graduated
from Spring Hill College in Mobile and later
enhanced her undergraduate degree with a Master’s,
majoring in Library Science. She had also gained
much experience working in the Mobile Public
Library System. Fortified with these credentials, the
determined Mrs. Sherrill went on to do outstanding
work at both Pacelli and Saint Anne School in addi
tion to caring for her husband and children. In a
homily delivered at Mrs. Sherrill’s funeral Mass,
Father J. Kevin Boland, pastor of Saint Anne
Church, highlighted some of her contributions and
achievements: pursuing her college education at
night classes, commuting to Auburn to get her
Master’s, devotedly working with the children at
Saint Anne School and, though always busy, faith
fully attending daily Mass. By the time of her death
at 82 on January 16, 1991, Marguerite Sherrill had
forged a lifetime of service to family, church and
community and would always be remembered as a
woman of “hidden generosity” and compassion.
Among those who survived her were her sister, three
sons and a daughter..
Sister Mary Veronica Harvey, RSM
Similar to Marguerite Sherrill in the “hidden gen
erosity” and length of her service to others was
Sister Mary Veronica Harvey, RSM, who taught on
both the elementary and secondary school levels in
the Diocese of Savannah for an astounding 50-plus
years. Bom in New York City in the mid-1890s, she
was the daughter of John and Nora Fitzpatrick
Harvey. At age 16, Miss Harvey entered the novi
tiate at Mount de Sales and professed her vows there
as a Sister of Mercy in 1912. Her teaching career
included assignments in Macon, Columbus and
Savannah and in Douglaston, Long Island and
Baltimore, Maryland, though she served at Mount de
Sales in Macon longer than at any other post. Her
duties there varied from principal to prefect of resi
dent students to convent superior. In 1971, Sister
Veronica retired from teaching.
Close to 20 years later, and having spent 81 of her
97 years as a religious, Sister Mary Veronica Harvey
died in Macon on December 19, 1990. She was
remembered, said The Southern Cross of February
21, 1991, “for the hospitality she extended to all visi
tors at Mount de Sales; for her love and understand
ing of the young people she taught, for her thought
fulness of those who shared her community life, and
for her generosity to those in need.”
Sister M. Julian Griffin, VSC
Like Sister Veronica Harvey, Sister M. Julian
Griffin, VSC, dedicated her life to Christ and her
community. She was bom Norma Fae Griffin in
Columbus in 1936 to Percy E. and Julia K. Griffin.
A graduate of Mother Mary Mission High School,
Sister Julian received her bachelor’s degree from
Albany State College and Master’s from Goddard
College. After joining the Vincentian Sisters of
Charity in 1962, she taught in Pittsburgh and later at
Saint Jude’s High School in Montgomery, Alabama.
While in Alabama, Sister Julian became active in
voter registration drives and social work.
Transferred to Columbus, she worked with the poor
and afterwards moved to Savannah where she
helped organize the Westside Comprehensive Health
Center and was affiliated with Saint Anthony’s
Church. In 1975, she was appointed Vicar for Social
Ministry for the Diocese of Savannah—a post she
held until 1983. Her influence in this capacity was
far-reaching: coordinating work of local social serv
ice programs throughout south Georgia, being
responsible for educational programs, serving local
ly as director for the Campaign for Human
Development, establishing the local Black Catholic
Council and acting as executive director of Pax, Inc.
The radius of Sister Julian Griffin’s Social Ministry
service spanned more than the circle of those who
were African American. Many civic boards, such as
the Advisory Board of the Chatham-Savannah
Department of Family and Children’s Services, wel
comed her input. Sister Julian founded the Coastal
Empire Center for Research and was a member of
the Port City Business and Professional Women’s
Club, becoming their “Woman of Achievement” in
1982. She was subsequently called to the then-new
Office of Black Ministry of the Diocese of
Savannah “to develop outreach programs for the
black community.” Working closely with a black
Catholic Council, Sister Julian met with pastors of
black parishes and became founder of the “Talent
Unlimited” school for performing arts.
Her own talents also extending to the written
word, Sister Julian wrote several books: Tomorrow
Comes the Song, the Story of Catholicism among the
Black Population of South Georgia, 1850-1978 (in
cooperation with Gillian Brown) and another book,
A Rainbow of Myself She died of cancer in 1985. In
48 brief years, Sister Mary Julian Griffin, VSC, had
accomplished much. Dynamic and ever on the move,
Sister Julian said at the time of her appointment as
director of black ministry for the Diocese of Savan
nah, “I’m not taking on the ministry as something to
do just for black folks. I want to bring forth what’s
already there so the total Catholic community can
share it.” Concerning her commitment to her order,
Sister Julian observed: “There’s a place in our socie
ty for commitment to all kinds of lifestyles, but the
dimension the religious bring to life is vital.”
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the
Diocesan Archives.