School Sisters

Sister Jane Dettmer, 87, parochial school teacher Sister Jane Dettmer, a retired parochial school teacher, died Monday of heart failure at Villa Assumpta, the motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Woodbrook. She was 87. Sister Jane was known earlier as Sister Mary Alfried Dettmer. She began using her baptismal name after the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Council -- Vatican II -- in 1962-1965. Born in West Baltimore, she graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame in 1931 and entered the order that year.

Sister Mary Martha Geipe, a teacher, principal and pastoral minister, died of a stroke Dec. 20 at her order's motherhouse in the Woodbrook section of Baltimore County. She was 88. Born Nancy Marie Geipe in Baltimore, she was the daughter of Anna Theresa Croghan and Joseph Norman Geipe, founder of a moving firm. She was raised on Briarclift Road in Hunting Ridge and was a 1941 graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and a master's in education administration from Villanova University.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

"How old are you, Sister?" The question brings a sly smile to the face of Sister Agnes Barbara Hettel. "I'm 92," she replies. "I'm one of the young ones." Online For audio clips from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, additional photos and articles and more about Alzheimer's disease, go to baltimoresun.com/nuns.

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.

Notre Dame Preparatory School is celebrating two milestones during a nostalgia-filled homecoming this weekend: Fifty years ago, the school moved to its campus on Hampton Lane in Towson and alumna Susanne Albert Nichols returned to her alma mater to teach art. At the time, she was the only lay teacher on the faculty of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who quickly became her lifelong friends. Nichols, who graduated in 1951 and continues to teach three days a week, will be among the beloved teachers and distinguished alumnae inducted into the school's Foundress Society during the festivities.

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.

On September 3, 2002, SISTERMARGARET MARY SOUKUP, S, S, N, D, a beloved member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Dear daughter of Margaret Weindl Soukup and the late Ferdinand Soukup, dear sister of Marlene Wooden and Bud Soukup. Loving nieces of Mary Dewitt. Also survived by nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews and cousins. Friends may call at Villa Assumpta, 6401 N. Charles St., on Friday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 8:30 P.M. Christian Wake Service will be held Friday 7 P.M. A Funeral Mass will be offered Saturday 10 A.M. at the chapel of Villa Assumpta.