FRIENDS AT RUMPLESTILKINS

I have recieved a photo from Joan Reynolds Fogarty and I am so happy to hear that she and her group of school friends are continuing their tradition of meeting up several times a year.  This photo was taken at their Christmas get together which was held at Rumplestilkins.    

 

The friends  pictured are, left to right;



 

Betty Fitzgerald Pye, Catherine Corbett Stanley, Mary Fitzgerald, Eleanor Sears Vatcher, Brenda Casey Grouchy, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Joan Reynolds Fogarty, Joan Ryan Cobb, Patricia Connolly Leonard, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Rosemary Ashley Healy.

 

Thanks Joan for letting us share your Christmas gathering.  Thank you also for all the help you have give to this blog over the years.  It is very much appreciated.  I would also like to commend you and your group on the loyalty you show to one another.  You ladies really show us what friendship is all about.   

THE FRIENDSHIPS ENDURE!

C B C has just given us the very sad news that St Patrick’s Convent will soon be no more.  After 160 years in the West End, the good Sisters will finally close the doors and leave what has long been a beacon of education and good works.  We are very sad at their going and we will remember them for many things.  We owe them a great debt and thank the Presentation Sisters, past and present, who have contributed so much to our community and to our lives. 

BEAUTIFUL ST PATRICK'S CONVENT, CONVENT SQUARE

We have carried through our lives many gifts gained from our days at St Patrick’s.  One of the most beautiful of those gifts is the precious gift of lasting friendships which we still treasure from our school days. 

Joan Reynolds Fogarty has sent us this lovely photograph of five St Patrick’s Convent classmates. The classmates are Yvonne Stephenson Meissner, Margie Miller Ryan, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Rosemary Ashley Healy and, of course, Joan.

SCHOOL FRIENDS ROSEMARY, YVONNE, MARGIE,
JOAN AND KATHLEEN

Joan informed us that Yvonne lives in Ontario but she and her husband spend several months every year at their beautiful home by the ocean in Pouch Cove.  It is a wonderful opportunity for meeting up with old friends too and every year the friends do just that.  This year the ladies got together for dinner at Joan’s house. 

Joan closed her email with this touching remark, “Still connected after almost 70 years”.  That truly is the beautiful gift of friendship!  Thank you Joan for sharing it with us and may you and your school friends enjoy that special bond for many, many years to come.

ST PATRICK'S GIRLS AT JACK'S RESTAURANT

Getting together with school friends is still very important to former pupils of St Patrick's Convent Schools.  Joan Reynolds Fogarty sent us news on their latest gathering.  In May the ladies met for dinner at Jack's Restaurant in the Capital Hotel.

GETTING TOGETHER AT JACK'S RESTAURANT 

Back Row: Brenda Casey Grouchy, Joan Reynolds Fogarty, Rosemary Ashley Healy, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Joan Connolly Alston, Bonnie Beck Byrne, Rita Kielly, Betty Fitzgerald Pye, Mary Fitzgerald

Front Row: Patricia McCarthy Philpott, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Patricia Connolly Leonard, Eleanor Sears Vatcher, Madeline Adams Thompson

Thanks very much, Joan, for sharing this with us. Don't forget to send us news of your next meeting.  You ladies are just amazing!  

Joan also informed us that a stalwart of this class, Catherine Corbett Stanley, lost her beloved husband, Winston, in early May.  We send our deepest sympathy to Catherine and to all Winston's family and friends.  May he rest in peace.

RENEWING OLD ACQUAINTANCES

Recently I had the very great privilege of spending a month at home in St John's where I still enjoy the wonderful blessing of devoted family and loyal friends.  On Tuesday, 8th September I was fortunate to get together with a group of school friends for lunch at 'Swiss Chalet'.  (My special thanks go to Doreen and Mary Elizabeth who organised the meeting on very short notice and with the added problem of many friends out of town for the Labour Day Holiday.)

 

I think it accurate to say that everyone had a great time.  I know that for me personally it was just wonderful.  Some of the ladies I am in touch with on a regular basis but it was as much as fifty years since I had seen some of my other school friends.  One of the group, Bernadette, shocked and delighted us all by counting up the years we have been friends - 64 beautiful years!  Isn't that amazing?

 

Here are a few of the photographs I took on that lovely afternoon.  It is evident from the photos that I am not a great photographer so if anyone else took pictures that day, I would be delighted if you would share them with us here on the blog.  Just send them to us at mcallistersmith@gmail.com & I will post them here and on the facebook page.



Maureen Sullivan, Mary Johnson, Doreen Walsh,
Sheila Bulger & Betty Simms

 

Maureen Sullivan, Mary Johnson, Doreen Walsh & Alice Prim

 

 

Beth Anne McAllister, Mary Elizabeth Kennedy
& Edwena Kavanagh

 

Bernadette Grouchy, Cynthia Murphy
& Kathleen Johnson

 



Betty Simms, Mary Elizabeth Kennedy & Edwena Kavanagh

Carol Cromwell, Lila Mercer & Jackie English

It seems that St Patrick's girls have a special knack for maintaining the valuable friendships made in school days and long may it continue to flourish.  However, lest it be thought that she is denying her old school, I must point out that Edwena is a former pupil of Mercy Convent.  She got hooked up with this crazy bunch of St Patrick's girls at Holy Heart of Mary and became a well loved member of the group.  We are all very glad that she did! 

 

Thanks for everything, ladies, and I hope it won't be too long before we can all get together again.