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- STORY OF SISTER M. CLOTILDIS, SISTER OF ST. MARY OF OREGON 60th (DIAMOND)JUBILEE
by Joseph Smith, brother
It was a beautiful day, sunny from early morning, and at Mass time, 2:00 p.m. it was over 90 degrees. People began arriving before 1:30. We got there at 1:40, and by that time, many people were there.
Some had to come from quite a distance. Some of Sister Clotildis' friends, and/or relatives came from the following places:
La Grande, McMinvil1e, Klamath Falls, Newberg, Portland, Gaston, Forest Grove, Mt. Angel, Banks, Hillsboro, Cornelius, Tillamook, Lafayette, all of which are in Oregon.
From Washington--Seattle, Vancouver, Bremerton--former 7th grade pupil-- Tacoma, and Spokane. Others came from southern California and San Francisco also.
I took several pictures at the Con-celebrated Mass. Eleven priests and one Monsignor assisted, and many came later. St. Mary's Chapel was completely filled.
There were approximately 400 people, of whom about 175 were Sr. Clotildis' guests.
As the invitation showed, one sister was a Diamond Jubilarian--Sr. Clotildis; one Golden Jubilarian--Sr. Leocadia; four Silver Jubilarians --Sisters Janice, Julie Marie, M. Magdalen and Ruth Frank. Sister Janice is from our Verboort parish also.
Approximately 225 friends and relatives of the last five sisters made up the balance of the 400 guests.
Father Neil Moore, our cousin, gave a fine homily. Father Clement Frank OSB was the main celebrant and uncle of Sr. Ruth Frank.
Holy Communion was distributed under both species. The six sisters sitting in the front two pews on the right side, received Holy Communion first, followed by the total chapel group. During the non- concelebrated part of Mass, eight priests sat in the front two pews on-the left side, just ahead of Blanche and myself. In our seat were my sisters Agnes and Esther and my brother Ervin and his wife Leona. A few seats back were the rest of our family-- Norman, Marie and Ida.
The flower theme was yellow, peach and white, with tall yellow and peach glads in the background of the vases near the side altars.
Sister Clotildis had a special reception room, as did the other five sisters, with a good seating capacity and a serving table in the center. Coffee, tea and punch, plus a variety of fancy cookies and salted nuts were served. The reception was from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. but it didn't break up until close to 5:00 p.m.
I met and visited with friends and relatives from all over. The gift and card tables for all six sisters seemed to be filled to overflowing.
Sister Clotildis then came to our house from Tuesday p.m. until Friday evening, relaxing a little, but writing lots of "Thank You" letters. All in all, it was a momentous and beautiful occasion and will be remember by all.
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1902 - 1985 (83 years)
