Donnelly, Catherine

• Sister Catherine Donnelly, SOS

Born 26 February 1884 in Adjala Township, Ontario, daughter of Hugh Donnelly and Catherine Donnelly; entered 15 August 1922; first vows 15 August 1924; final vows 15 August 1931; died 5 September 1983.

Born on the family farm in North Adjala Township near Alliston, Ontario, Catherine was the oldest of three daughters of Hugh and Catherine Donnelly. She was educated at a No. 5 Tossorontio Township, a local ungraded one-room school and Alliston High School, obtaining her junior leaving certificate of Grade 11 in 1901. After receiving a teaching certificate from the Model School at Bradford, Catherine began to teach in 1902 at the age of 18 in the one-room Bandon School No. 10 at Adjala, near Colgan at the south end of the township. Two years later, she entered Toronto Normal School from which she graduated with a teacher’s certificate in 1905, the year her mother died. The farm was sold and Catherine’s teacher’s salary became the sole financial support of the family. Her father moved to Alliston, and the sisters attended St. Joseph’s Academy in Toronto as boarders.

During this period, Catherine taught in Ontario publicly-funded schools, moving frequently to receive a higher salary. Meanwhile, her sister Tess trained as a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and nursed in France in the First World War, where she met her future husband. Younger sister, Mamie, taught school for several years and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto in 1917, taking the religious name of Sister Justina. With her sisters settled, Catherine with Mary O’Connor, a teacher from the Penetanguishene school, felt they could go further afield to teach. In the fall of 1918, an adventurous spirit led them to teaching positions in southern Alberta, near Erskine. Six weeks into the school year, the influenza epidemic had reached Alberta and the schools were closed. In helping the afflicted, Catherine was struck by the lack of contact with the Catholic Church in rural areas.

During the fall of 1919, Catherine left a teaching position in Coleman, Alberta to return home to her ailing father, who died on November 23, 1919. At this time, she yearned to do something more effective. Influenced by her experience in Western Canada, she approached the Sisters of St. Joseph in Peterborough, who were planning to open a teaching mission in Calgary but were not interested in her as a candidate. From a recommendation by her sister Mamie, now Sister Justina, she approached Fr. Arthur Coughlan, C.Ss.R., Provincial Superior of the English-speaking Redemptorists, who were at the cusp of expanding into Western Canada. On his advice, Catherine entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto, who had three missions in British Columbia. Accepted, she entered in June 1920 but left six months later, restless with “too much going on out west.”

Catherine again met with Fr Coughlan, who during the interview stated: “We had better start a community of our own.” In January 1921, Father Coughlan discussed the proposed new community with the missionary-minded Archbishop Neil McNeil of Toronto. At the archbishop’s recommendation, Catherine returned to Saskatchewan to gather more knowledge about rural situations. She took charge of a two-room school in Denzil, Saskatchewan and later near Stornoway, Saskatchewan. Returning to Toronto in September 1921, she taught at St. Francis School and later moved to 97 St. Joseph Street, the former centre for the university students at St. Michael’s College. In early 1922, Fr. Coughlan assigned fellow Redemptorist Rev. George Daly as the official clerical director of the Sisters of Service. Just prior to the official founding of the SOS on August 15, 1922, Catherine and three other novices moved into 2 Wellesley Place, a house purchased for the community. Sr. Donnelly spent the next decades teaching in Alberta and Saskatchewan, both in-classroom and via the SOS religious correspondence schools.

On August 15, 1974, the community celebrated Sister Donnelly’s golden jubilee as a Sister of Service. Cardinal George Flahiff of Winnipeg presented the papal medal, Pro Ecclesia at Pontifice, in recognition of 50 years of work for the Church. In June 1980, she was the subject of the popular television program, Man Alive. For a week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation film crew interviewed her for a 30-minute episode, entitled “You’ve Come a Long Way, Sister.”

In early 1981, she moved to the SOS retirement community at St. Catharines, Ontario, where died at the age of 99 on September 5, 1983. The wake service was held at the Motherhouse with many visitors expressing their condolences, including Cardinal Flahiff. The funeral Mass was held at nearby Holy Name Church with Rev. C.J. Crusoe as the main celebrant and 14 priests in the sanctuary. Rev. Francis Maloney, Provincial Superior of the Toronto Province of Redemptorists, delivered the homily. Her body was buried in the SOS plot at Mount Hope cemetery in Toronto.

Created by F Rousselle 23 April 2025.

Biographical sketch adapted for brevity from complete biography written by SOS congregational archivist MC Havey.