Carnivals and picnics, heavenly kitchen smells, hugs and kisses and making a little go a long way. The memories were as plentiful as the tears for the Benedictine sisters when they said good-bye to St. Joseph Home in North Little Rock.
A special prayer service to mark the departure of Sisters Vivian Luyet and Dolores Vincent Bauer, OSB, was held at the former orphanage Nov. 29. They were the last of 116 religious from St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith to live and serve at St. Joseph over the past century.
Though owned by the Diocese of Little Rock, St. Joseph Home has been staffed by the Benedictines since 1907. The four-story yellow brick building with surrounding grounds and farm is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. It was primarily an orphanage for children until 1978. Programs for preschool, kindergarten, daycare and after school care followed until 1997. Since then, St. Joseph has been used as a retreat center for diocesan programs and parish groups.
For the past 10 years Sister Delores Vincent has stayed in North Little Rock to teach religion and minister to the elderly in nearby parishes. Sister Vivian has served as a hostess for groups at St. Joseph Home. Longtime caretaker Julius Greb continues to maintain the property.
Prioress Sister Cabrini Schmitz, OSB, led the two-hour prayer service, which began in the second-floor chapel.
“We are gathered here where for 100 years we celebrated Eucharist, were fed and nurtured with the body and blood of Christ. We rejoiced, repented, received many blessings and healings, experienced many joys and sorrows. We come to remember and to say farewell to this house of God — reminding ourselves in the words of Jacob: ’Truly the Lord was in this place. How awesome is this place!’” Sister Cabrini said.
About 40 guests joined the 15 sisters present — all of whom had a connection to St. Joseph. They were caregivers, daycare workers, residents at the orphanage and children of residents. They came to pay their respects, offer blessing and bathe in the past.
In the chapel Sister Madeline Bariola, OSB, tearfully shared the contents of a letter she had received from a woman who wrote that as a child the sisters at the orphanage taught her what love was.
“’I felt safe there,’” Sister Bariola said speaking for the woman. “’I learned what love is and I learned how to trust and I learned how to pray.’”
The prayer service moved from the chapel to the first-floor kitchen, then the laundry, dining and dishwashing rooms. Then the group went back to the second floor to visit the former administrative office and a classroom before going to the third floor. There, participants went to the former baby room, sisters’ community room and bedroom area. In each place, the participants prayed, recalled memories and sang, “Forever I Will Sing the Goodness of the Lord.” Sister Cabrini then blessed each room by sprinkling holy water before moving on.
In the kitchen, Anita Laster, an orphanage resident from 1969-75, recalled the wonderful food lovingly prepared by the sisters. “I have thousands of memories of this place,” she said. “Every day I walked in here was a good memory.”
In the dining room, Sister Madeline recalled how 15-month-old Vivian Schaefer fell asleep and her head feel right into the mashed potatoes and gravy on her plate. “It was the cutest little thing,” she said with a laugh.
Sister Norbert Hoelting, OSB, administrator of St. Joseph’s daycare and preschool from 1981-1993, recalled a little boy at the daycare who asked, “’Can I have some college cheese?’”
In the dishwashing room, Pulaski County Deputy Sheriff Lee Howell, 55, recalled the late “Miss Mae” Dwyer, a senior resident at St. Joseph, who, he said, “was like a grandma to the kids.” Howell entered the orphanage with his brothers in 1957 when he was 5 years old.
“If you were assigned back here (dishwashing room) and you did a good job for (Miss Mae), she would slip you a few bucks,” Howell said. “It always helped to have a little money during carnival time.”
In contrast, Howell, while standing outside the administration office, said it wasn’t a pleasant place to visit. “You would not want to be called in there,” he said with a laugh.
In the baby room, Sister Madeline proved she still has it. While she was recalling her experiences of caring for infants and toddlers from 1962 to 1971, she became distracted by chatter coming from the back of the room from Lewis Howell.
After a minute or two, she said sharply, “Lewis!” Her stare and tone silenced the 62-year-old Howell. He was 12 when he went to the orphanage with his brother Lee.
Sister Madeline quickly went from disciplinarian to loving mother as she recalled caring for children ages newborn to 4.
“Every night they would crawl in bed and I went around and hugged and kissed every kid,” she said choking up with tears. “I got all these hugs and kisses every night. It was more than I gave.”
In an interview with Arkansas Catholic after the service, Lewis Howell, of Sheridan, said he struggled while at St. Joseph as a child, but the late Sister Charlene Lindeman, OSB, understood how hard it was for him to be there.
“Everybody loved her to death,” he said. “She was strong as an ox and had a heart of gold and the wings of an angel.”
Kathy Jarvis, 57, attends Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith. She came to the service because her dad and three uncles were taken to St. Joseph in 1921. The boys were ages 1 to 4; her dad was the oldest. Their mother died in childbirth with her fifth child and their father couldn’t care for them alone.
Jarvis told Arkansas Catholic her late father spoke often of the blessing the sisters were in his life. He told her, “’Had it not been for the Benedictine sisters, Kathy, I would have ended up pumping gas or in a penitentiary,’” she said. “All of those boys grew up to be productive, constructive members of society. Only God knows what would have happened to these four little boys if St. Joseph hadn’t taken them in.”
During a reception in the dining hall, Sister Cabrini told Arkansas Catholic she had known for a long time that a day of departure from St. Joseph was coming. In February, it became a reality when she visited St. Joseph and realized that Sister Vivian, 89, needed to return to Fort Smith for health reasons.
Sister Cabrini said Benedictine life requires sisters to live in community so Sister Dolores Vincent could not remain alone. With no one else to send to St. Joseph, and with a great need for Sister Dolores Vincent at St. Scholastica, it was decided that both sisters would leave St. Joseph.
“I have positions at the monastery that I have a hard time filling because of the scarcity of able-bodied sisters,” Sister Cabrini said.
Sister Dolores Vincent, 61, said leaving St. Joseph was very difficult and she didn’t think she has “said good-bye yet.” She spoke with Arkansas Catholic by phone Dec. 3.
Originally from Nebraska, she said she began to volunteer at St. Joseph during her summer vacation from teaching in 1970. She loved it so much she returned each summer until she moved to Arkansas to work at St. Joseph in 1977. It was at St. Joseph that she heard God calling her to religious life. She made her monastic profession at St. Scholastica in 1982. After a few years teaching in Fort Smith and Paris, she returned to St. Joseph in 1991 where she stayed until now.
“Leaving, it’s really heartbreaking,” she said. “But I’m grateful for the years I was able to be there, and I also know God is calling me to be at St. Scholastica. Even though it is difficult, it is a part of life.”
