We Remember Her  

In the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring.

Sister Mary Teresa Norton, CSJ
(Sr. Vida)
September 7, 1931 – April 28, 2022

Sister Mary Teresa Norton (Sister Vida), born of Irish immigrants Patrick and Anne Flaherty Norton, grew up in South Boston with her older brother James and her younger sister, Noreen, (Nonie).   Prior to her entrance, she had an excellent reputation as an active parishioner at Gate of Heaven, and was already employed at Carney Hospital. I mention this for reasons that will become clearer in a few moments.

Formerly missioned at St. Clement, Somerville, St. Joseph Medford, Cathedral Grammar, St. Mary, Dedham, St. Angela’s and St. Agatha’s, Sr. Mary Teresa was known to be a good teacher, strict but fair. Former students remained in her life, as visitors and as friends.  In her later years, Sister Mary ministered as Librarian at Msgr. Ryan and Elizabeth Seton Academy. Most recently, she worked on fundraising at the  Labouré Center in South Boston.

Previously I had mentioned that Mary Teresa was active in her parish before she entered. Though this was part of the culture for many in the 40’s and 50’s, Mary valued her “call” to be in the service of God.  At her jubilee in 1978, her theme in both readings and music was, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” Sister Vida, whose name means “Life” had given her life to the One who knew her and called her by name. Work was also a value to Mary Teresa, as a teenager and as she lived into the winter of her life. After she had “retired,” she was committed to continue working, thus her ministry at Labouré Center, because she wanted to contribute to the Congregation. When Sister Mary made the difficult transition to the 2^nd floor at Bethany, she was comforted to know that she was needed there to be a companion to the sister next door to her as she struggled in the final stages of her illness. “Send me God.” She was often seen sitting next to this sister, holding her hand. It is our hope that Mary came to more fully appreciate the gift of her Presence, when she was no longer able to work at an outside ministry. For surely, those on the staff at Bethany would say that their lives were changed for the better by their encounters with Sister Mary Teresa.  As on so many other days, this was especially evidenced by their tears last Thursday when Sister Mary was making her way home.

Call, work, and peace. St. Francis prayer for peace was on the cover of her 1978 jubilee, which closed with the song, “Let there be peace on Earth.” Mary shared God’s longing that we would live in peace, knowing we belong to each other, as we belong to our God. She prayed to be an instrument of that peace. This was her desire.

In addition to so many other values, Sister Mary loved her family and they loved her. In 2010, at her 60^th jubilee, Mary called the Archdiocese as they prepared for their celebration of all the sisters marking their significant anniversaries. 39 guests, she asked if she could bring. 39, as opposed to the 5 or 6 some might bring. “I can’t leave anyone out, she said. They’re all mine.”

A twinkle in her eye, a cup of coffee in her hand, her beloved Bruins on the wall, Irish music in the background, Sister Mary made a loving difference in the lives of so many. Her deep faith and sense of humor sustained her as she lived out her last months, waiting to return to the One who called her name, the One to whom she said, “Here I am.”

Given By Betsy Conway, CSJ – May 6, 2022

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Sr. Mary Teresa Norton
72 years with the Sisters of St. Joseph…
A Woman of God first and foremost… but we knew her as our Aunt the Teacher
Devoted her life to God and to teaching his children
              As did many of you here today
There are few professions about which there are as many positive flattering quotes and sayings…
As a group, Sisters are the best teachers…
              For you it is a calling, a vocation…
              Able to devote so much time and energy to the profession….
For Sister Mary, teaching was a passion…
              She could talk about her time and experiences as a teacher without exhaustion…
              Sister’s obituary says she taught at 6 schools over the course of her career…
I was not aware of all of these assignments, but visited her at most of these as a child…

Not every weekend, but certainly more often than not, my father would pile us into the car, we would often stop and pick up my grandmother, and off we went to visit sister in her convent.
And there were always other sisters who would come in and out of the visiting area and say how tall we had grown… “tall”: was important…
              Invariably we would wind up in Sister’s classroom writing on the blackboard.
              Sr. Mary took on some of the toughest assignments… she taught 7^th grade for the better part of her career…
              And universally she was known as a tough teacher who was quick to spot a phony…
              She taught for a good long while at St. Angela’s in Mattapan, and later in life,
I worked with and socialized with a number of folks from that parish who had had her as a teacher…
              The reaction from such folks when they heard she was my aunt was invariably, “She’s Your Aunt!!”
              A testament to her toughness…
              But a greater testament to her is the relationships she maintained with many of her students long after she retired from teaching…
              These relationships resulted in the establishment of a Scholarship in her name and honor at her last teaching assignment at St. Agatha’s in Milton…
(reference to notice in the lobby)

Personally, Sister was a proud Irish daughter of South Boston…
              So proud of her Irish heritage and so proud to have been born and raised in Southie…
              She loved Irish music… And loved St. Patrick’s Day… I recall many years as a boy with my father and siblings with Sister at the St. Patrick’s Day parade…
St. Patrick’s Day brought the Wolfetones to Boston and she came with us to see the Wolfetones year after year, loving their Celtic Symphony, until her health would no longer permit…
She was a faithful patron of the Easter Sunday Sunrise Service at Castle Island and attended for years with my Father…
Later I began to attend with Katie and Maureen and Ann Marie.
Sister continued to join us at these Masses even after my father passed…
Some of those mornings were challenging… but through cold, rain, and wind, – never a complaint…
Sister shared a great dry wit with her sister Noreen Kelley and my Dad, Jim Norton… they could sit and talk for hours and for them it never got old…

Sister was dedicated to her family as well…
              She never forgot a birthday or event… always a card with a ten spot for your birthday and sweet words on every occasion… St. Patrick’s Day cards were big….
              Until her health failed her she shared every milestone and event in the lives of her siblings, nieces and nephews, and grand nieces and nephews… all of the birthday celebrations, Baptisms, First communions, confirmations, graduations some weddings, enjoying them all…
              And there were a lot of such events because there were a lot of us…

15 on the Kelley side and 28 on the Norton side… between nieces and nephews, and grand nieces and nephews
And she shared herself with her families on all of holiday gatherings – rarely too tired to attend…
              Sr. had few indulgences, but among those were the Red Sox and the Bruins… she was a big fan of both teams and she rarely missed a game on TV, and she could talk the talk of a fan…
              She shared that interest with my father among others, and they would talk by phone after many big games…
              After our father passed, I made it a point to call her after the big games and I think she really enjoyed rehashing what had happened in the games…

              There was one kind of funny when I called at Fontbonne after one big game that finished late, and the sister that answered the phone at Fontbonne said to me, oh sister is asleep… And I tried for a while without success to convince her that Sister Mary was awake… until I told her that she was probably still up after the Bruins game that had just ended and of course, when she checked Sister was still wide awake… we had a laugh over that…

              She was particularly close to her sister, Noreen Kelley’s family, and Noreen’s sons, my cousins, and their families were particularly close to her…
She spent many days at the Kelley cottage on the lake in New Hampshire…
And she, Noreen, and other friends spent many times sharing coffee in a diner or restaurant, especially if there was some Irish music playing in the background…

Jimmy and Chuckie Kelley and their families were especially devoted to Sister… making sure she and the sisters were safe at Fontbonne in the bad weather, helping out with the holidays decorations… Jimmy used to take care of the Christmas tree every year at the convent in Milton… Chuckie was frequent visitor to Fontbonne to check on the sisters in the bad weather…

 And when Sister’s health confined her to Bethany, they made frequent visits there as well…
That became much harder in recent times but they maintained the closeness…
And in very recent times, she left us rather abruptly…

We all miss her and have for some time, but we have some good memories and none of us doubts that she is in a much better place than she had been in recent times.. sharing coffee with her parents, siblings, friends, and her fellow Sisters of St. Joseph…
Thank you Mary for all that you were to us…

Given by James Norton,  Nephew, May 6, 2022