File 6 - Circular Letters – Sister General Mary Quinn, May-June 1960; Chapter decisions, 1960; Sister General Agnes Dwyer, August-December 1960

Born 1 September 1902 in Saint John, NB, daughter of James Quinn and Katherine Fitzpatrick; entered 2 February 1928; first vows 15 October 1929; final vows 23 June 1933; died 23 November 1980.

Mary grew up in the Irish community of the Redemptorist parish of St. Peter’s in the north end of Saint John. She attended St. Peter’s girls school, St. Vincent’s high school and commercial course at Mount Carmel Academy. She was a graduate registered nurse when she entered at the age of 25. Her novitiate training was interrupted to return home during her father’s serious illness. She professed first vows on October 15, 1929.

For 14 years, Sister Quinn was assigned to the two rural Alberta hospitals, starting with St. John’s Hospital in Edson (1929-1930; superior 1934-1942), where she took final vows on June 23, 1935. In 1941 as an extraordinary visitor, Sister Quinn travelled to each mission on behalf of Sister General Margaret Guest, meeting all the sisters. At the 1943 General Chapter, she garnered the second largest votes and was elected to the General Council and Assistant Sister General. She assumed many duties of the ailing Sister General Margaret Guest in 1946 while also fulfilling the tasks of superior (1943-1948) of the Motherhouse. In the 1948 Chapter and the subsequent 1954 Chapter, she was elected as Sister General. For those 12 years, Sister Quinn directed the community with a calm and steady hand. She had a friendly relationship with Father Daly, who knew her as a teenager when he was posted in Saint John.

During her two terms, she oversaw the community at its peak of 124 sisters, including 100 with final vows. The missions had increased to 20 after the opening of Alberta teaching missions of Peace River (1951), Manning (1952) and a residence (1953) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The teaching mission of Wexford, east of Toronto, was closed, and construction projects were undertaken to modernize the residences in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. After Father Daly’s death in 1956, Sister Quinn ushered the administration into full self-government. With the institute on a sound financial footing, she focused on the continued and upgrading of the education of the sisters through university degrees, professional diplomas and certificates.

After two terms as Sister General, Sister Quinn was elected as a councillor on the General Council (1960-1966) in the 1960 Chapter and was appointed as superior of the Motherhouse. Ill health caused her to resign from the General Council in 1964, and she returned to Vilna to recuperate. For the next few years, she moved to Regina (1965-1966), back to Vilna (1966-1968) and the Edson hospital (1968-1971) following a nursing refresher course. A year after moving to Halifax (1971-1973), she broke a hip and returned to Alberta, living in Edmonton (1973-1976) and Edson (1976-1977), where she had nursed in the three SOS hospitals – the original three-storey frame building, the 37-bed brick building, which opened in 1932 and the modern 50-bed hospital, opened in 1969.

In continuing poor health, Sister Quinn joined the retired sisters at Niagara Retirement Manor in St. Catharines, Ontario, where she died on November 23, 1980. The well-attended wake service at the Motherhouse was followed by the funeral mass in the Motherhouse chapel, concelebrated by Jesuits Edward Dowling, Edward Tyler, and Redemptorists, Toronto Provincial Superior Francis Maloney, former Provincial Superior John Lockwood, religious broadcaster Matthew Meehan and philosophy professor Joseph Owens, also a fellow Saint Johner and St. Peter’s parishioner. Her body was buried in the community’s plot at Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.

Born 14 October 1904 in Townsend, Ontario; daughter of Daniel Joseph Dwyer and Elizabeth O’Mahony; entered 21 January 1931; first vows 15 August 1932; final vows 15 August 1938; died 10 April 1978.

Agnes grew up in the southwestern Ontario farming area of Norfolk County. While attending high school in Wallaceburg, Ontario and later in Penetanguishene, Ontario, she lived with her mother's relatives. Following graduation from the Provincial Normal School in London, Ontario in 1923, Agnes returned to Penetanguishene as a teacher. An article about the Sisters of Service in The Catholic Register prompted her to write a letter of inquiry to the Toronto Motherhouse in 1927. Enthusiastic about teaching in Western Canada, she delayed entering until January 1931 when her family financial responsibilities were satisfied and a younger sister's tuberculosis stabilized.

After professing first vows on August 15, 1932 in the novitiate chapel, Sister Dwyer's desire was realized with a series of rural teaching appointments in the prairie provinces. She taught in St. Bride's Alberta from 1932 to 1934. Posted to Camp Morton, Manitoba (1934-1939), she combined teaching with the duties as superior and took final vows on August 15, 1938. Moving to teach at Bergfield, Saskatchewan (1939-1943), she travelled to nearby Diamond Crossing (1943-1945). Each summer, Sister Dwyer attended summer school to upgrade her teaching certificates and was awarded a permanent first class certificate. After 13 years of teaching, Sister Dwyer applied many of her instructional skills as director and superior of the religious correspondence school in Fargo, North Dakota (1945-1948)

At the 1948 Chapter and with her administrative ability and experience, Sister Dwyer was elected as a member of the General Council (1948-1954), and appointed as Assistant Novice Mistress. During this appointment, she developed and wrote a program for novices, based on the spirituality of St. Alphonsus, and trained younger sisters in catechetical instruction. Moreover, she also acted as a consultant to the community's correspondence schools in Edmonton and Regina to improve and update programs of religious instruction to children. For the proceedings in the First Canadian Religious Congress in 1954, she presented a paper, entitled “Occasions of Encroachment upon Religious Life in the Apostolate.”

At the next Chapter, she was re-elected to the General Council (1954-1960) and appointed Novice Mistress. In the 1960 Chapter, she was elected as Sister General and recognized the importance of the Second Vatican Council. Sister Dwyer arranged for sisters to attend lectures and colloquiums to hear perspectives of the changes in religious life. Under the council’s directives, religious communities were mandated to review and reassess their way of life and programs while remaining faithful to the essence of religious life and the history and development of each community. Under Sister Dwyer’s leadership, a new design of uniform in a modern classic style replaced the longer grey dress.

After a six-year term as Sister General, Sister Dwyer returned to religious education, stationed at the catechetical mission in Nelson, BC (1966-1969) and was appointed superior in 1967. Due to ill health, Sister Dwyer moved to the Regina correspondence school (1969-1973) and retired to Camp Morton for the next three years until 1976. A final move in 1976, she joined the retired Sisters at the Niagara Retirement Manor, St. Catharines, Ontario. She died on April 10, 1978 in Hotel Dieu Hospital in that city. The funeral mass was held in the Motherhouse chapel and her body was buried in the community's plot in Mount Hope cemetery, Toronto.