School Sisters

Sister Marie Vincent Brothers, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who spent nearly three decades as a teacher and graphics designer at Notre Dame of Maryland University and was once described as one of the "swingingest" nuns, died June 8 at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore County of lymphoma. She was 86. "She had a lovely gift of integrating art into just about everything," said Sister Miriam Jansen, who knew Sister Marie Vincent for at least 40 years. "Her creativity was just remarkable.

Sister Marie Vincent Brothers, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who spent nearly three decades as a teacher and graphics designer at Notre Dame of Maryland University and was once described as one of the "swingingest" nuns, died June 8 at Maria Health Care Center in Baltimore County of lymphoma. She was 86. "She had a lovely gift of integrating art into just about everything," said Sister Miriam Jansen, who knew Sister Marie Vincent for at least 40 years. "Her creativity was just remarkable.

Sister Eva Marie Fitzgerald, member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of respiratory failure Thursday at Maria Health Care Center at Villa Assumpta, the order's motherhouse. She was 81. Born in Baltimore, Sister Eva Marie attended St. Brigid's School. In 1938, she entered the candidature of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and was received two years later into the Novitiate, where she was given the religious name of Sister Mary Levina. She professed her vows in 1941. She earned her high school equivalency and took courses that amounted to one year of college study.

Sister Genevieve Kunkel, a professed member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for 78 years who was known for her spirit and positive attitude, died Wednesday at the age of 101 from complications after hip surgery. Sister Genevieve was a participant in the "nun study," which has tracked more than 600 members of the School Sisters since 1986 to learn more about aging and Alzheimer's disease. Her sunny approach to life was featured in a book published about the study, titled "Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier and More Meaningful Lives.

For the first time in its history, the College of Notre Dame of Maryland has named someone who is not a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame as its long-term leader, tapping a veteran administrator from a Catholic campus in upstate New York to become its 11th president.Mary Pat Seurkamp, vice president for institutional planning and research at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., will take over the college's presidency in July."This is a college that is very clear in its values," said Seurkamp, 50. "It [is]

The School Sisters of Notre Dame made it official yesterday: their all-time favorite major leaguer is definitely Honus Wagner. That's because a rare T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, bequeathed to the order by a benefactor who died this year, fetched a whopping $262,900 in an online auction late Thursday night. The card, which dates back to 1909, was bought by Doug Walton of Knoxville, Tenn., the managing partner of Walton Sports and Collectibles LLC. Excluding a 19.5 percent buyer's premium, the sisters will soon be receiving a check for a whopping $220,000.

Sister Frances Zeller, a retired elementary school teacher and member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for more than 70 years, died Friday of complications from dementia at her order's motherhouse in the Woodbrook section of Baltimore County. She was 91. Frances Leona Zeller was born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown. She attended Sacred Heart of Jesus School and was a 1936 graduate of the old St. Elizabeth of Hungary Commercial School near Patterson Park. She was a 1940 graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame and earned a bachelor's degree in education from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 1960.

Sister Melvina L. Bennett, whose work with poor women and families won her the respect and admiration of her peers in the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died of complications from cancer July 23 at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 64. Born in Charleston, S.C., to Lee James Bennett and Rosetta Chavis Bennett, she was raised a Baptist but converted to Roman Catholicism while attending college at the Hampton Institute in Virginia. Her mother died when she was 7, and she and her younger sister, LaVerne, were left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Sarah Chavis.

Sister Mary Leonissa Clements, a longtime elementary school teacher and member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, died Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center after suffering a stroke. She was 91 and lived at Villa Assumpta. Born Geraldine Rose Clements in Washington, D.C., she attended St. Boniface School in Philadelphia and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She worked in a hosiery mill before entering the order in 1934 and studying at the Institute of Notre Dame. She received a teaching certificate from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and a bachelor's degree in education from St. John University in Brooklyn, N.Y. She began teaching elementary school at St. Theresa in Washington and continued at parishes in Rochester, N.Y., and Brooklyn.

Nightclub founder Louis Principio Jr. succumbs at 67A Mass of Christian burial for Louis J. Principio Jr., a founder of Hammerjacks, the South Baltimore nightclub and concert hall, will be offered at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Roman Catholic Church of the Ascension, Potomac and Poplar avenues in Halethorpe.Mr. Principio, who was 67 and lived on Oakland Terrace Road in Arbutus, died at St. Agnes Hospital Tuesday of cancer.He became a partner in the business, which now concentrates on concerts in its building at 1101 S. Howard St., when it opened as a tavern on South Charles Street in the late 1970s.

Sister Mary Annita Link, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who had been a primary educator, died July 10 of heart disease at her order's Maria Health Care Center in the Woodbrook section of Baltimore County. She was 89. Catherine Elaine Link was born in Baltimore and raised in Canton. She was a graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1941. She took the religious name of Mary Annita and professed her vows in 1944.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore added a new religious order of nuns Tuesday, its first in decades and one that began as an Anglican community. The All Saints' Sisters of the Poor left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church two years ago. By a decree from the Vatican, they are now an official diocesan priory, or order, the same designation carried by the School Sisters of Notre Dame or the Daughters of Charity. "We feel we have broken ground," said Mother Christina Christie, leader of the community and a nun since 1966.

Sister Mary Aurea Kimball, who taught in parochial schools for four decades, died of a stroke April 15 at her order's Villa Maria Health Care Center in Woodbrook. She was 82. Rose Marie Kimball was born in Annapolis and grew up on a farm outside the capital. She attended St. Mary's School and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She received the religious name Mary Aurea and professed her first vows in 1950. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and had a master's degree from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Sister Aurea's first teaching post was at St. Mark's School in Catonsville, where she taught from 1950 to 1965.

Sister Agnes Miriam Hradsky, a retired teacher and member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for 61 years, died of pneumonia Nov. 3 at Maria Health Care Center, her order's motherhouse in Woodbrook. She was 95. Agnes Beatrice Hradsky was born in Baltimore to Czechoslovakian parents who had arrived in the United States during their teens. She grew up on Collington Avenue and attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School, taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In 1928 she graduated from grammar school with perfect attendance and went on to the Institute of Notre Dame.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame made it official yesterday: their all-time favorite major leaguer is definitely Honus Wagner. That's because a rare T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, bequeathed to the order by a benefactor who died this year, fetched a whopping $262,900 in an online auction late Thursday night. The card, which dates back to 1909, was bought by Doug Walton of Knoxville, Tenn., the managing partner of Walton Sports and Collectibles LLC. Excluding a 19.5 percent buyer's premium, the sisters will soon be receiving a check for a whopping $220,000.

In her line of work, Sister Virginia Muller does a lot of praying. She prays for the homeless, the sick, the spiritually downtrodden. And Thursday, she'll throw in a special prayer for a certain T206 Honus Wagner baseball card. That's because the School Sisters of Notre Dame, an international order with administrative offices in Baltimore, are auctioning off the rare Wagner card and bidding ends Thursday night. By the time the online auction ends, the card is expected to sell for $220,000 -- which was the highest bid as of Wednesday night -- or more.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore added a new religious order of nuns Tuesday, its first in decades and one that began as an Anglican community. The All Saints' Sisters of the Poor left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church two years ago. By a decree from the Vatican, they are now an official diocesan priory, or order, the same designation carried by the School Sisters of Notre Dame or the Daughters of Charity. "We feel we have broken ground," said Mother Christina Christie, leader of the community and a nun since 1966.