Walsh, Alice Mary

• Sister Alice Walsh, SOS

Born 29 August 1904 in Sydney, NS, daughter of Richard Walsh and Mary Theresa Walsh; entered 7 October 1927; first vows 2 February 1929; final vows 2 February 1934; died 18 February 1991.

The eldest of six children of Newfoundlander parents, who met in Sydney, Alice attended local schools, taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame. As a child, Alice’s favourite pastime was playing school with her siblings, as the oldest, she was the teacher. In pursuing her childhood pastime, she graduated from Normal School in Truro, and taught for one year in a rural school. Before her family moved to Indiana where her father was building furnaces in the steel mills, Alice saw the advertisement in The Catholic Record, showing Sisters Catherine Donnelly, Margaret Guest and Catherine Wymbs dressed in their uniforms ready for the first western mission.

After a year in Indiana and encouragement from two priests, the 23-year-old Alice decided to enter the Toronto Motherhouse. She made first vows on February 2, 1929 and final vows on February 2, 1934. For the first appointment, Sister Walsh joined the newly-opened catechetical mission in Edmonton in February 1929. During that summer, she embarked on catechetical tour in communities of Saskatchewan, the first of many future summer tours. In September, she was assigned to Camp Morton (1929-1935) as a teacher at King Edward school No. 2 and remembered walking to school many times because it was too cold for the horse, Nelly, retired from pulling Eaton’s department store vans in Winnipeg. Shortly after final vows, she was assigned to the religious correspondence school in Regina (1935-1937), where her writing talent was enlisted to edit the children’s page of the Salve Regina Quarterly, the archdiocesan paper. Throughout the years, she contributed articles in The Field at Home. She returned to Camp Morton as a teacher in the Bismark school (1937-1943) in nearby Berlo.

After serving as superior at the catechetical house in Edmonton (1943-1949), Sister Walsh returned to Camp Morton (1949-1951) for a third teaching assignment. From hence, she was dedicated to the development of catechetics and religious education. After a second appointment at the Regina correspondence school (1951-1952), she directed the Winnipeg archdiocese’s office (1952-1966) of Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), the Church’s official religious education organization. During this period, she attended a CCD summer course (1954) in Catholic University in Washington with Sister Mary Jackson. Following the Second Vatican Council, she enrolled in the initial course of the Divine Word in London, Ontario (1966-1967) and helped to introduce the theological changes to the sisters, particularly with its effects on religious education in Regina (1967-1968), and assisted Edmonton separate school board (1968-1969). For a final teaching posting, she taught at St. Michael’s school in Rycroft, Alberta from 1969 until it closed in 1971. Drawing from her vast experience, she was assigned to the Daly Centre, the former religious correspondence school in Regina (1971-1976), to develop an adult course in religious education.

In failing health, Sister Walsh joined the retired sisters at Niagara Retirement Manor in St. Catharines, Ontario (1976-1989) and Scarborough Court (1989-1991) in Toronto. At the age of 87, she died in Scarborough Centenary Hospital on February 18, 1991 following an operation. Her wake was held at O’Connor funeral home in Toronto and a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Redemptorist Fr. Raymond Corriveau in St. Boniface church, adjacent Scarborough Court. Her body was buried in the SOS section of Mount Hope cemetery in Toronto.

Created by F Rousselle Dec. 11, 2025.

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