In Loving Memory
Sister Jean Patrick (Mary Alice) Bennett, of St. Scholastica Monastery, died at the Monastery Friday, August 4, 2006. She was born October 3, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois, and received her high school education at Villa Sancta Scholastica Academy in Duluth, Minnesota. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. The summer of 1985 she attended the Benedictine Institute of Sacred Theology at St. Benedict’s College, St. Joseph, Minnesota, and during the summer of 1966 she attended an eight-week Reading Institute for Elementary Teachers, funded by a government grant, at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Jean Patrick said the hardest part about her journey to attend high school at Villa Scholastica was leaving her parents and siblings in Chicago. The mournful sound of the fog horn on rainy days brought on tears of loneliness. However, she imbibed enough faith and courage from the Benedictine environment and from her devout Irish-born parents that she was able to accept God’s call to enter the Monastery after graduation. She did so September 7, 1935, making her monastic profession in 1937 and celebrating her Silver Jubilee in 1962, Golden in 1987, and Diamond in 1997.
Her first teaching assignment was at St. Clement’s School in Duluth. After six years she was assigned to St. Timothy’s School in Chicago, the city where she was born and the school from which she had graduated in 1931. In a talk she gave to the Sisters in 1997, she admitted that being back in her home parish was a challenge. After eight years she moved on to teach at several Minnesota schools: St. Bridget, Minneapolis; St. Anthony, Duluth; St. Joseph, Crosby; St. Rose of Lima, Proctor; Holy Name, Wayzata; and St. Francis, Brainerd. She also spent a summer tutoring students in mathematics and reading. When she returned to the Monastery in 1993, she served as director of the Enrichment Center, sacristan, and clerk in the Monastery Transportation Office.
At Sister Jean Patrick’s wake service Tuesday, August 8, 2006, in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel, one Sister noted that a Psalm which had just been sung clearly summed up her life: “Blest are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” At her funeral the same day, the homilist added, “Compassionate love was a hallmark of Sister Jean Patrick.” Someone described her as a “classy lady,” and others told of how proud she was of her Irish heritage. Her wonderful sense of humor no doubt came from this lineage. She loved to play cards, especially cribbage, and when she played she wanted both sides to win. Her devotion to duty was exemplified the first day she was sacristan. Watching a baseball game with the score tied at the eighth inning, she excused herself “to turn on the lights in chapel” for prayers!
Sister Jean Patrick was preceded in death by her parents, John and Delia (Heraty) Bennett; her brother John; and her twin sisters, Patricia (Parkin) and Eugenia (Baer). In addition to the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Father Gabriel Baltes, OSB, presided at the Mass of Christian Burial. Burial was in Gethsemane Cemetery.
Ministries
Education Ministries
- St. Clement’s School, Duluth, MN
- St. Timothy’s School, Chicago, IL
- St. Bridget’s School, Minneapolis, MN
- St. Anthony’s School, Duluth, MN
- St. Joseph’s School, Crosby, MN
- St. Rose of Lima School, Proctor, MN
- Holy Name School, Wayzata, MN
- St Francis School, Brainerd, MN
Administration —Principal
- St. Anthony’s School, Duluth, MN
- St. Joseph’s School, Crosby, MN
- Holy Name School, Wayzata, MN
Director of the Enrichment Center
- Office work in Transportation Office
- Receptionist at Information Desk
- Sacristan
Prayer Ministry