Sister Mary Louis Pihaly, SSND

Our beloved Sister Mary Louis Pihaly, 101, died at 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, in Notre Dame Health Care, Mankato, Minnesota. Active until a few months before her death, she nevertheless longed to be taken home. Sisters kept vigil with her the day before she died, and members of the Notre Dame Health Care staff were praying with her when she died. Sister Mary Louis was the last Mankato participant in the Nun Study. The Funeral Liturgy, with Father Eugene Stenzel as presider, will be held Friday, March 17, at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Good Counsel Chapel, followed by burial in the Good Counsel Cemetery. A prayer service of remembrance will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, followed by visitation until the Funeral Liturgy. We extend our sympathy to her nieces and nephews and their families, her friends, former students and colleagues, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents Louis and Mary (Pilger) Pihaly, her sisters Mary Pihaly and Agnes Kordell, and her brothers Leonard, John, Louis, Brother Joseph Alphonsus (Francis), FSC, Lawrence and Brother Louis Gerard (George), FSC. In her later years, Sister Mary Louis completed several revisions of her autobiography, but they all contained core ideas: her early family life, her vocational call, and her life as a School Sister of Notre Dame. The seventh of nine children and the second girl, she was born in St. Paul on February 25, 1916, and baptized Teresa Mary two days later at St. Francis de Sales Church. She commented, “I don’t remember anything of my early years except that my father called me ‘Sunshine’ because of my cheerful disposition.” Her father was an auditor at the Great Northern Railway, which allowed him to use a pass to take his family on train trips. Sister Mary Louis wrote, “Several times he took us to Duluth during the summer. We would start in the evening, eat the food we brought along, sleep on the train, get to Duluth in the morning, and wander around the city. It was especially fun to go to the dock and watch the large ships. In the evening we would go home again on the train.” Her mother had a strong faith and went to Mass every morning, even though she made breakfast for all of her children and packed their lunches. Sister Melania Pilger, one of her mother’s sisters, was a School Sister of Notre Dame in Milwaukee and played an important role in Sister Mary Louis becoming an SSND. All the Pihaly children attended St. Francis de Sales Grade School, with the boys continuing their education at Cretin High School and the girls at St. Joseph Academy. Each of the children learned to play the piano and, in some cases, other musical instruments. Some of her older brothers played Saturday night dance music in St. Paul. When Teresa was in seventh and eighth grades, her teachers told the students to pray often to become sisters or priests. She later wrote, “I did this and frequently desired to become a sister, but as I grew older, these desires became less frequent.” In August 1932, prior to Teresa’s senior year, one of her aunts went to visit Sister Melania. Sister Melania asked if any of the Pihaly girls wanted to become sisters. Sister Mary Louis continued the story, “My aunt said that she thought that I did. I had no idea of it at the time. Sister said the sooner I go the better, or I might lose my vocation. My aunt came home and told my mother what Sister had said. My mother took me upstairs so that we wouldn’t be disturbed and asked if I wanted to be a sister. I just stood there because I hadn’t thought of it. She finally said I could try it, but could come back anytime if I didn’t like it. So I said I would try it.” Arrangements were made for Teresa to enter the candidature in Mankato on Labor Day, September 5, so that she would be on time for Good Counsel Academy classes. Teresa completed her senior year as a candidate and graduated in 1933. Because she was so young, she stayed at Good Counsel the next year to take college classes, while the rest of her class was practice teaching. During the summer she took organ lessons for the first time, building on her piano background. In the fall of 1934, she went to St. Michael School, Madison, Minnesota, where she taught first and second grades and gave piano lessons to two students. She was received into the novitiate on July 16, 1935, and given the name Sister Mary Louis, after her deceased father. She told a story about being called Sister Mary Louis: “When the bishop gave my name, someone coughed, so my family did not hear my name. When they got outside, my mother asked my big brothers if they heard my name. One of the smarties said ‘Abraham’ and another said ‘Abie.’ My mother was very disappointed, but I guess she did not trust them, because when I came out she asked me. I think she was relieved when I said my name was Sister Mary Louis.” She professed first vows on July 17, 1936, in her words, “the happiest day of my life. I have never before experienced so much spiritual joy and gladness.” After profession, she took a three-week course in liturgical music to obtain an organist’s certificate. Sister Mary Louis continued her teaching ministry in 1936. In almost every instance, she was also responsible for either school or parish music in addition to teaching. She taught primary grades at St. Mary, Shakopee (1936-42); St. Mary, Bellchester (1942-48); SS. Peter & Paul, Mantador, North Dakota (1948-49); and St. Donatus, St. Donatus, Iowa (1949-54). She taught intermediate grades at St. Albert, Albertville (1954-56) and St. John the Baptist, Searles (1956-60). She focused on junior high students in her next three schools: SS. Peter & Paul, New Hradec, North Dakota (1960-61); St. Francis Xavier, Sartell (1961-65); and St. Adalbert, Silver Lake (1965-67). Her next assignments were a mix of intermediate and junior high grades, with a few years in elementary administration: St. Ann, Kimball (1967-69); St. Paul, Comfrey (1969-70); St. Leo, St, Leo (1970-79); and St. Peter, Forest Lake (1979-1985). Because she taught in rural areas, there was no chance to complete her education on Saturdays as metropolitan-area teachers could do, so she could study only during summers. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount Mary College in 1948. In 1985, Sister Mary Louis realized that it was time for her to stop teaching. Sisters Margaret Roozen and Francette Malecha, directors of the Sandcastle Daycare Center in St. Paul, invited her to be their secretary. During this time, she lived at St. Francis de Sales Convent, her home parish. Sister Mary Louis continued as secretary until 1994. At her retirement party, she was asked to come back as a volunteer. She wrote about this experience, “I could not work with the toddlers because I couldn’t get down on the floor with them, so I worked with the babies. I sat in a rocking chair, and an aide put the baby in my lap. I would rock it, play with it, feed it the bottle or put it to sleep.” On another occasion, she summed up her work as a Sandcastle volunteer, “It was sheer joy.” She volunteered at Sandcastle until 2003, when she moved to Good Counsel. Sister Mary Louis remained active in her retirement years. An avid reader, she enjoyed her position as Learning Center Librarian. She spent her mornings in Ceramic Haven, painting ceramic figures. In the afternoons, she and other sisters crocheted mittens, scarves and other winter apparel that was distributed to St. Paul Public School students through the auspices of the Marvelous Mitten Makers. She also contributed many hand-made items for the gift shop and Craft Fair. Her “extra” time was spent praying, reading, playing cards and visiting sisters – and playing organ for community prayer in Notre Dame Health Care until she was 99 years old! In 1986, Dr. David Snowdon proposed a research program on Alzheimer’s disease, which would involve studying sisters’ lives and, after death, their brains. Known as the Nun Study, this program gained much attention in the 1990s and early 2000s, especially after Dr. Snowdon published the results of his study in the book Aging with Grace. To participate in the study, sisters needed to be at least 75 years old, but when the study began in 1986, Sister Mary Louis was too young to qualify. Initially the study included only sisters from the Mankato Province, but it was expanded in 1991 to include sisters from other provinces, again with the minimum age requirement of 75. In 1991 Sister Mary Louis turned 75, and was therefore eligible to participate. She joined the study because she felt, “If I could help people, I’d be glad to do it.” She continued, “The more they [the researchers] can do with my brain when I’m dead, the better.” As one of the few surviving participants in North America, she was featured in a Nun Study segment of a BBC television program called “How to Stay Young,” which was filmed in 2015 and released in 2016. Just a few weeks before she died, Sister Mary Louis was able to view this segment. In her life, Sister Mary Louis taught and helped many others to praise and love God and to rejoice in God’s name. In her death, she continues to educate through her sharing. Her time of waiting is over; may she now forever praise God and rejoice in God’s love.