By Anne Marie Amacher
DAVENPORT — The Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) will celebrate the jubilees of 12 vowed Sisters and one associate at a special Mass of celebration June 26 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bettendorf. Bishop Martin Amos will preside at the 2 p.m. Mass.
75 years
Sister Marilyn Reyes was born in 1919 and is a native of Centerville. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1936 and professed first vows in 1939. Sr. Reyes studied elementary education and received her bachelor’s degree from Marycrest College in Davenport and furthered her studies in intercultural education and anthropology at the University of the Americas in Cholula/Puebla, Mexico. She received a master’s in religious studies at Mundelein College near Chicago.
She taught for 28 years with assignments in the Diocese of Davenport at St. Mary and St. Patrick in Ottumwa, St. Mary in Centerville, and St. Alphonsus in Davenport and outside the diocese in Des Moines and in West Des Moines, Iowa, and in Montana and Illinois. Sr. Reyes also was involved in inner city ministry in Illinois and in pastoral ministry in Illinois, Kansas and Arizona. She was director of Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) in Iowa, California and Texas. She was a bilingual religious education director in Chicago.
Sr. Reyes lives at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport and is active as a volunteer at Gilda’s Club-Quad Cities, Center for Active Seniors Inc., pro-life 6th Street Ministry and as a bi-lingual interpreter and mentor to Spanish-speaking seminarians.
Sister Cecelia Vandeberg was born in 1918 in Epping, N.D., and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1936. She pronounced first vows in 1939.
She received a bachelor’s in music from Siena Heights College in Adrian, Mich. She taught music and academics in Montana and Illinois. Except for six years ministering in the Midwest, she has spent her entire religious life in Montana. Since 1988, Sr. Vandeberg has worked in hospital ministry in the same hospital in Great Falls — Benefis East, formerly known as Deaconess Hospital, Mont.
Sister Carolyn Walters (Joseph Mary) was born in 1919 in Beaconsfield, Iowa, and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1937. She pronounced first vows in 1939.
She studied education at Ottumwa Heights College in Ottumwa and received her bachelor’s from Marycrest College. She received a master’s in gerontology from the University of Southern Florida in Tampa. Sr. Walters taught at St. Mary School in Ottumwa, Cosgrove Consolidated in Cosgrove and Georgetown Public School in the Diocese of Davenport. She also taught in Des Moines. Sr. Walters served as assistant to the dean and as registrar at Marycrest College, as co-director of the Department of Social Concerns in the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo., and as a nurse aide at Ottumwa Heights Infirmary in Ottumwa. At Teikyo/Marycrest University Sr. Walters was coordinator of alumni records and after retirement continued to serve there as sacristan and volunteer. In 2004 Sr. Carolyn was honored as co-founder of the Quad-Cities Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Her ministry now is prayer and witness as a resident of Humility of Mary Center in Davenport.
70 years
Sister Ann Therese Collins was born in 1920 in Des Moines and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1942. She professed first vows in 1944.
She received an associate’s in liberal arts from Ottumwa Heights College, a bachelor’s from Marycrest College and a master’s in education from Creighton University in Omaha.
Sr. Collins taught in the Davenport Diocese at Catholic Central High School in Ottumwa, St. Joseph School in Fort Madison and Assumption High School in Davenport and also in Dunlap, Neola and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in Montana.
From 1968-70 she was the first female superintendent of schools for the Davenport Diocese. She served as CHM vice president from 1970-76 and as CHM president from 1976-84. Sr. Collins was also interim president of Marycrest College. She has volunteered at the Center for Active Seniors Inc., Listen to Me Read and GED programs in Davenport. She lives at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport and is active in a ministry of prayer and witness.
60 years
Sister Barbara Costello (M. Jean Vianney) was born in Evanston, Ill., in 1929, and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1951 and professed first vows in 1954.
Sr. Costello received her bachelor’s in elementary education from Marycrest College, a master’s in education from St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minn., and a master’s in pastoral ministry from Loyola University in Chicago.
She taught in the Davenport Diocese at St. Mary School in Ottumwa and St. Vincent School in Davenport and elsewhere in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Sr. Costello was in cooperative ministry in the Illinois Quad-City area and served as a tribunal case worker at the Rock Island Vicariate for the Diocese of Peoria, Ill. She lives at Bishop Drumm Retirement Center in Johnston, where she is active in a ministry of prayer and witness.
Sister Regina Mary Cratty was born in Des Moines in 1933 and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1951 and professed first vows in 1954.
She graduated from Ottumwa Heights College and received her bachelor’s in elementary education from Marycrest College and her master’s in religious education from the University of Detroit. She taught in Montana, Illinois and Iowa. In the Davenport Diocese she taught at St. Mary Parish in Oskaloosa, Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Davenport and Lourdes Memorial School in Bettendorf. She was also coordinator of House of Prayer in Davenport. Sr. Cratty lives at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport and is active as a volunteer and in a ministry of prayer and witness.
Sister Gretchen McKean was born in 1932 in Peoria, Ill., and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1951. She pronounced first vows in 1954.
She received an associate’s degree in education from Ottumwa Heights College, a bachelor’s in elementary education from Marycrest College, a master’s in biology from Marquette University in Milwaukee and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Champaign. Sr. McKean taught at Lourdes Memorial School in Bettendorf and St. Alphonsus in Davenport in the Davenport Diocese and elsewhere in Iowa and Illinois. She later taught biology at Marycrest and its successor Teikyo Marycrest/ Marycrest International in Davenport. She was also the director of the spirituality center at Marycrest International University.
Today Sr. McKean is a volunteer at the Center for Active Seniors Inc. and is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. She lives at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport.
Sister Constance Pailliotet (M. Dominic) was born in Riverside in 1926 and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1951 and professed first vows in 1954.
She studied education at Ottumwa Heights College, received her bachelor’s in education from Marycrest College and a master’s in education from Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. She taught at St. Alphonsus School in Davenport and was a teacher and principal at St. Mary School in Ottumwa. Sr. Pailliotet taught elsewhere in Iowa, California and in Montana. She is retired and lives in Hardin, Mont.
Sister Harriett Ping (M. St. Edward) was born in 1932 in Fort Madison where she attended St. Joseph School. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1951 and professed first vows in 1954.
Sr. Ping received an associate’s in elementary education from Ottumwa Heights College, a bachelor’s in general science from Marycrest College and a master’s in science from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. In the Davenport Diocese she taught at St. Alphonsus in Davenport, St. Mary in Ottumwa, Assumption High School in Davenport and Aquinas in Fort Madison and elsewhere in Iowa and in Montana. Sr. Ping worked in the library at Marycrest College and as receptionist at Martina Place Assisted Living in Johnston.
She is retired and volunteers at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. She lives at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport.
Sister Helen Strohman (M. Maurice) is a native of Keswick and was born in 1932. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1952 and professed first vows in 1954.
She received a bachelor’s in elementary education from Marycrest College. Sr. Strohman taught at St. Alphonsus in Davenport and St. Mary and St. Patrick in Ottumwa and elsewhere in Iowa, Minnesota and Mississippi. She was director of the YES Program in Canton, Miss., and was in pastoral ministry at St. Joseph Church in North English. Sr. Strohman was director of the Rainbow Literacy Center and also the MADCAAP Educational Program in Canton. She lives and ministers in Canton where she is director of Sacred Heart Hispanic Outreach.
50 years
Sister Sheila Seng (M. Mark Gregory) was born in 1943 in Cedar Rapids and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1962 and professed first vows in 1964.
She received a bachelor’s in elementary education from Marycrest College and did post-graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado. Her 45 years in teaching covered assignments in Iowa, Illinois and Colorado. Sr. Seng lives in Aurora, Colo., and teaches at Christ the King School in Denver.
Sister Marilyn Brinker (M. Edmund) was born in Westphalia in 1943 and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1961. She professed first vows in 1964.
She received her bachelors’ in elementary education from Marycrest College and a master’s in education from Drake University in Des Moines. Sr. Brinker studied clinical pastoral education at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City and became a certified chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
She taught at St. Vincent School in Davenport and elsewhere in Iowa and Texas. She was curriculum director at St. Paul and St. John parishes in Burlington, and teacher and director of early child development in Minnesota. She taught pre-kindergarten in Nebraska. In Oklahoma Sr. Brinker served as chaplain at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa and Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville. She is a poet and author and is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. She lives in Des Moines and is a member of St. Ambrose Cathedral Parish.
25-year associate
CHM Associate Catherine Glancy of Davenport taught at Holy Trinity School in Davenport for several years.
The CHM Associate program was developed to answer the call of many seeking a deeper, spiritual existence without becoming fully-vowed members. The linkage with the Humility Sisters offers a support system, a way to experience other perspectives, a nudge to keep growing — a spiritual resource.
