HOLY ANGELS, 50s STYLE

This photo, from the mid 1950s, has been posted here before but without names.  I have some of the names now so I am posting the picture again.  If you can help with any of the unnamed girls, I would be delighted to hear from you, mcallistersmith@gmail.com.  

"Holy Angels", after school party, 1950s

To Fr Hanton's right (and not in strict order) we have Anne Whelan, Patsy Stafford, Carol Sceviour, Bridie Colbert.  

Standing behind are Patsy Walsh, Alice Prim, Carol Brothers, Lucy Power, Eileen Maher, Florence Evans (peeping out between Eileen and Alice).

Moving to Fr Lewis it gets a little more jumbled but you just might recognize Alice Hennessey, Valerie McGrath, Bernice or Dorothy Noftall, Diane Hawley, Betty Galivan, Sheila Glynn, Betty Simms, Mary Glynn, Elizabeth Flynn, Brenda Tracey, Beth Anne McAllister and Margaret Morrissey.

Holy Angels was the group that preceded Children of Mary. Sister Immaculata was the leader of that group and, when we were in her Grade 6 class, we were all enrolled in Holy Angels.  

I don't remember what time of the year this party took place but I have vivid memories of the great time we had!  The two young priests, Fr John Hanton and Fr Phil Lewis, provided the entertainment. Fr Lewis was a marvel on the piano and he played all the popular hits of the day.  All that great Rock n Roll Stuff.  We were so innocent and naive in those days!  We were astonished that priests would know all of those songs.  I guess we thought they lived in a bubble or something.  Anyway, we had a wonderful time and Sr Immaculata was hard pressed to make us go home.  It is a rare day indeed when you have to force girls to go home from school!

I am counting on you to come up with a few names for me.  Please help if you can.

YVONNE'S PROUD EVENING

Happy Presentation Day, to all.  On this Presentation Day 2019, I am pleased to bring you this lovely little post.  I think it  will bring back happy memories of our small, but important, share of Presentation life. 

Venerable Nano Nagle

I have to thank Yvonne Dionne for the memories and photos. The photos and reminiscences are so nice to receive and they certainly reawaken half forgotten memories of our younger selves.

Yvonne writes:

"While at St. Patrick’s, around grade 5, age 10, in 1971, I joined the Girl Guides. The investiture was held in the school gym. My patrol leader, standing behind me, was Ellen Walsh."

Little Yvonne, A Proud Girl Guide

Thanks Yvonne.  This is a sweet little look back at life at dear old St Patrick's.  If anyone has photos, stories, or memories they would like to share, please just send them along to  us  at mcallistersmith@gmail.com.  It would be a pleasure to post them.  I have a bit of a backlog at present but I am working my way through it and I am slowly catching up.  Please keep the news coming!

A momentous night

"AMAZING" ANTECEDENTS TOO

It is possible that I overuse the word "amazing" when speaking of St Patrick's people but, as I am sure you will agree, they truly are amazing, each and every one of them!  Marina Carew Aita and her sisters are all graduates of St Patrick's Convent Schools.  The story that Marina shares with us shows that St Patrick's people have some "amazing" (oops, sorry, that word again) antecedents too.  With regard to the City of St John's, I feel this is also an historically important snippet.  

St Patrick's Convent and the City of St John's Crests

Read and enjoy - and maybe help Marina along the way. Marina is hoping that someone, perhaps a City Councillor or a B I S Member, might pick up on this and be able to help her locate a photograph of her relative.  Anyway, here is Marina's interesting story.

“My great grandfather John Carew operated a funeral parlour located on Carew St. His son John, my g/uncle, was a St. John’s City Councillor at the time. According to The Daily News of Sept. 4, 1909, an issue being debated in Council on September 3, 1909 concerned a communication from some Chinese people requesting permission to exhume the body of a Chinese man who died some eight years previously. Their idea was to send it to China. In the interest of public health safety, John was opposed to the request and during the heated debate he suddenly suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly in the City Chamber.

My reason for posting this article is that I could never find a photo of my g/uncle John to add to our family tree, and thought perhaps some of your readers might be of help.  As well as a City Councillor, John was a lifetime member of B.I.S. and I believe I recall reading posts on your blog from members of both organizations. Perhaps they might have access to photos as I understand their archives are in the process of being updated.“

What a fascinating, if tragic, story.  Marina's great Uncle John Carew must have been a man of strong character and firm convictions.  I love this story and I hope someone will be able to help Marina in her search for a photo of her Uncle John.

Thanks Marina for sharing this with us.  Any family stories, no matter how old or how recent, are welcome if they have any connection to our School or Parish.  If you would like to share a tale with us, send it to mcallistersmith@gmail.com.

FROM JANE ANNING ADAMS

Jane Anning Adams posted this message on the St Patrick's Facebook page.  I am posting it here on St Patrick's Convent School Blog in the hope that some of Jane's former classmates will see it and get in touch with her.  Perhaps someone will remember Jane's mother, Joan Ryan, and aunt, Marilyn Ryan.  They too are St Patrick's girls and they lived on Patrick St.  Good luck Jane, I hope you get some good results.  

SCHOOL DAYS - RUBBER BAG DAYS!

Jane wrote:

"I just discovered this group and it brought back many memories. I attended St. Patrick's for only a short time - about January 1968 to June 1968. I was in Ms. Hennessy's grade 2 class (hopefully I got the name right). My mom and siblings were visiting from Saskatchewan for a few months and we stayed with my grandparents on Patrick Street. My mother Joan Ryan attended St. Patrick's when she was young (c.1942 - 1953) and my aunt Marilyn Ryan also attended the school (c. 1958 - 1969). My mom is now living in Cambridge, Ontario and unfortunately has Alzheimer's. She still mentions the teachers and her piano lessons at the school. If anyone remembers my mom (or me) I'd love to hear from you. I will pass along any messages to her."

A TREASURE FROM 1942

Does anyone know why a post suddenly goes missing from a Blog?  On 24th May 2015, I posted this great picture of Holy Cross Confirmation Class, circa 1942/43.  Very few of the boys were identified so, sometime later, I was delighted to be contacted by Ray Simms with some wonderful information.  Ray is one of the boys on this photo and he was able to identify just about all the boys pictured. On 15th May 2017 I re-posted the photo again with the new information.  Then I added the  link for the Blog Post to our facebook page.  Now for the mystery!

Several months ago, Ray's son, Danny, contacted me saying that he was unable to find the new post with the names, although there was a link for it.  The photo and a link back to the Blog Post is definitely in the Holy Cross Album on our facebook but, strangely, the link leads back to a page that tells us it does not exist.  Mystery or what?

Holy Cross Confirmation Class 1942

This picture is a real treasure and to have most of the names is an added bonus so I am re-posting the photo with all the names supplied by Ray. 

Back Row: J Hickey, E Parsley, B Fanning, J Whelan, R McGrath, F Kavanagh, F Gough, R Simms

Row 3:  C Ennis, P Miller, R Kavanagh, D Baird, T Brewer, J McAllister, R Whelan, B Parrell, C Carew, Br Drayton

Row 2:  B English, J St George, J Greene, C Penney, B Whittle, A Fitzgerald, D Molloy, B Kielly, L Hickey, C McKay

Front Row:  J O'Brien, ??, P Murphy, J Cleary, B Evans, J Barron, R Morrissey, J Baird, C Baird, J Walsh, P Roynayne

I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that this post will 'stay put' both here and on our facebook page!

Once again, my thanks to Ray Simms and to his son Danny.  Keep well, Ray, and please keep in touch.

SEPTEMBER GET TOGETHER

I am so pleased to know that Joan Reynolds Fogarty and her amazing classmates are still celebrating friendship.  Joan sent this picture of the girls at their September get together at P J Billingtons.  Joan said this meeting was especially memorable because, for the very first time, Yvonne Stephenson Meissner and Mary Farrell O'Keefe attended.  Mary lives in Pouch Cove and Yvonne lives a little farther afield, in Claremont, Ontario.

That amazing Group of Friends

The ladies are:

Front: Yvonne Stephenson Meissner, Patricia Connolly Leonard, Eleanor Sears Vatcher

Row 2:  Brenda Casey Grouchy, Mary Fitzgerald, Mary Farrell O'Keefe, Joan Reynolds Fogarty, Joan Connolly Alston, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Catherine Corbett Stanley, Madeline Thomson Adams

Row 3:  Rosemary Ashley Healy, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Kathleen Dobbin Benson

The classmates meet for their Christmas bash on 4th December and we look forward to hearing all about that too.

Thanks Joan for keeping us up to date on your activities.  You must be the closest, most loyal, group of school friends anywhere.  St Patrick's Convent and West End values, perhaps?  God bless you wonderful women and may you enjoy many more happy reunions.

-------------------------------

I am sorry to have to add a sad note to this otherwise happy post.  Joan has just informed me that one of the faithful band of friends, Betty Fitzgerald Pye, has just lost her beloved husband, Reg.
https://www.barretts.ca/obituaries/Reginald-Stephen-Pye?  Sincere sympathy to Betty and family and to all who grieve for the loss of Reg.