File 13 - Sister Superior Mother Othilia Maguire, letters to SOS

Born in Valletta, Island of Malta, 1867-12-17. Entered 1885-07-02, received the habit 1886-01-02 (final vows 1888-01-03). Died 1937-04-08 in Toronto, Ontario and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario.

Isabel, the eldest daughter of Bernard Maguire and Emily Maiden, was born in Malta where her father was an officer in the British Army. The family emigrated to Canada when she was a small child and settled in Quebec where Isabel received her education, entering the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto at the age of seventeen. Her younger sister, Ellen, followed her into the Community in 1904. In January 1935 she celebrated her Golden Jubilee at St. Joseph’s-on-the Lake, Scarborough, where she died on April 8, 1937. A number of Sisters of Service were in attendance at the funeral. She was survived by her sisters, Sister Mary John and Mrs. Mae Bogue. The family is described as “large” in our Community annals but names of other members are lacking.

Most of Sister Othilia’s early years in Community were spent teaching at Sacred Heart (French) School in Toronto. She was appointed local superior in Lafontaine, Barrie, the Motherhouse, St. Michael’s Hospital, the Novitiate (Scarborough), House of Providence, Motherhouse again, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital and St. Michael’s Hospital, serving successively in house after house from 1905 until 1926. In 1926 she was appointed to replace an ailing Sister Lidwina Henry as Superior and Novice Mistress of the Sisters of Service during the early years of their foundation. However, Sister Othilia’s health, too, began to fail and she was forced to resign in 1928.