Sister M. Paula Young, SSND

Mankato Mortuary1001 N. Riverfront Dr.Mankato, MN 56001(507) 388-2202 On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Monday, December 12, our beloved Sister M. Paula Young, 91, died peacefully at 8:08 a.m. in Notre Dame Health Care, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Mankato, Minnesota. Sisters had been keeping vigil with her for several days, and three sisters were with her when she died. The Funeral Liturgy, with Father Eugene Stenzel as presider, will be held Thursday, December 15, at 10:30 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., Thursday morning.  We extend our sympathy to her sister, Carol Mulcahy, 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, Arthur and Lumena (Millette) Young, her sisters Jeannette Marien, Peggy Tharaldson, Aleen and Mary Jane, and her brother, John. One of Sister Paula’s gifts was writing, and this is evident in her autobiography composed over seventy years ago.  She began in this way: “My parents had definitely decided that if this new member of the family be a girl, she would be called Maryann.  But to the surprise of all, I did not come alone, but brought a twin sister along on March 20, 1925, at the Northern Pacific Hospital, St. Paul, Minnesota.  Since both of us were in imminent danger of death it was quite providential that at least one of us had a name.  We were baptized in the hospital, Maryann and Mary Jane respectively, on March 23.  The next day, Mary Jane died.”  Maryann was later solemnly baptized at St. Louis Church, St. Paul. Sister Paula’s father, Arthur, of Irish and English descent, was employed in the office of the Northern Pacific Railroad in St. Paul.  Here he met his future wife, Lumena Millette, who was of French descent.  At the time of Sister Paula’s birth, the family was living in Hazel Park, a St. Paul suburb.  A short time after the death of Mary Jane, an older Young daughter, Aleen, died in a fire.  Because of the two tragedies, Mrs. Young could no longer bear to live in the Hazel Park house and, shortly after Maryann’s second birthday, the family moved to St. Paul.  Sister Paula commented, “Had we remained in Hazel Park, in all probability I would never have known Notre Dame Sisters.  As it is, I entered the first grade of Sacred Heart School four months after my fifth birthday, and have been with the Notre Dame Sisters ever since.” Sister Paula described her call to SSND in this way: “During the first seven grades I gave no thought to the possibility of a religious vocation.  As far as I can recall, the thought never occurred to me beyond the transient childish desire common to all. The first time I was aware of this desire, I remember distinctly.  It was in the winter of 1938.  I was going to an evening bazaar with friends at a nearby Commercial Club.  We decided to attend devotions first.  On leaving Church I discovered that I had left my gloves behind. The others waited while I went back to get them.  It was then, in the dimly lighted parish church, that I felt the desire to serve Christ more perfectly by becoming a sister. Having rejoined my companions, I said nothing of this.” A few weeks later Maryann told her mother that she would like to go to Good Counsel to become a sister.  Her parents gave their consent, “always adding that should I ever feel differently about it, the thought of their disappointment must never keep me from changing my mind.” Maryann entered the SSND aspiranture in Mankato in the fall of 1938.  She was very grateful for the education she received during those four years and for the people who were part of her life, especially Sister Agnesine Obinger and Father Alton Scheid.  Maryann graduated from Good Counsel in 1942, and became an SSND candidate that fall. As a second year candidate, she taught fourth grade at St. Matthew School, St. Paul.  She was received into the novitiate in July 1944, and given the name Sister Mary Paula.    Following first profession of vows in 1945, she taught grades three and four at St. John’s School, Mankato.  The next year she moved to St. Mark’s, Shakopee, where she stayed until 1952 as a junior high teacher.  In 1952, Sister Paula started her high school teaching ministry, serving at St. Anthony, Lismore (1952-55); Don Bosco, Gilbertville, Iowa (1955-57), where she began the school newspaper; St. Agnes, St. Paul (1957-60); and Loyola, Mankato (1960-67).  Her subject areas were English/ journalism and French.  While at Loyola, she served as adviser to the school paper, The Loyolan, in addition to her teaching responsibilities.  Sister Paula remained in contact with several Loyola students over the years, and one of them, Gary Eichten, who would later become a Minnesota Public Radio personality, credited Sister Paula with influencing his choice of journalism as a career.  She wrote about her French education experiences: “I was working for a Masters in French.  Since I had only one French credit when I began the study at St. Louis University, it was followed by many different experiences.  I studied at St. Teresa’s, Winona, during a French immersion summer, followed by two summers at Laval University, Quebec, and finally finishing with three summers at Notre Dame University.” Along with Sister Mary Roger Walser, Sister Paula felt privileged to escort six Loyola and two Good Counsel students to France and Switzerland for a six-week summer study program in 1967. In the fall of 1967, Sister Paula assumed a new responsibility, that of public relations director for the SSND Mankato Province.  She became the Mankato representative on an interprovincial communications committee, and also served as the last editor of the SSND Interprovincial Newsletter (IPNL).  The committee inaugurated Soundings as a successor to IPNL.  Sister Paula also produced the first province Pictorial Directory.  In 1972, she joined the editorial staff of the Winona diocesan newspaper, The Courier, while continuing part-time in SSND public relations.  Beginning in 1973, The Courier position became full-time. She handled national and diocesan news releases, covered diocesan stories, took (and sometimes developed) pictures, and did the layout and pasteups for the paper. She wrote about this experience: “I loved the work and as part of it, I was sent to Rome to report on the Holy Year of Pope Paul VI.”  In 1976, Sister Paula moved across the Mississippi River to La Crosse, where she became the news and photo editor for the diocesan newspaper, the Times Review. She felt strongly about the role of the Catholic press, and stated in a 1977 SSND publication: “Our role in the Catholic press is to make the whole Church the possession of all its members.  We want to extend horizons beyond the parish, beyond the diocese, beyond the country to the whole world.  The Gospel mandate is to go out to all the world.  We try to bring some of that whole world to our readers. . . .For those of us engaged in the Catholic press, it is truly a work of evangelization.”  Bishop Loras Watters invited Sister Paula to return to The Courier as editor-in-chief in 1978, and she accepted the position.  A highlight of this time was the visit of Pope John Paul II to Des Moines in 1979.  Sister Paula wrote, “I went to Iowa for the visit of Pope John Paul II.  I was able to take his picture and run it on the front page of The Courier as our own photo, not one purchased from a news service.”  Sister Paula served as The Courier editor until August 1980. Sister Paula then served as building coordinator and director of hosted groups at Good Counsel Education Center for two years.  Following a four-month sabbatical in 1982, she worked as a pastoral minster and director of religious education, first at New Ulm Cathedral (1982-86) and then in Hastings (1986-1990).  In 1990, she became director of volunteers at St. Mary’s Home in St. Paul, where she worked with several other SSNDs.  She used her editorial skills to coordinate the volunteer newsletter, helped start a recycling committee, and became the purchaser of office supplies for the home.  She also worked as a field advocate for St. Stanislaus parish, preparing annulment materials.  In 2000, she retired from her work at St. Mary’s, but kept busy as a part-time receptionist for Central Internal Medicine.  In 2006, she fully retired, and joined with other sisters in the Winslow Commons apartments to extend a spiritual and compassionate presence to those in the neighborhood. Sister Paula moved to Good Counsel in 2011, grateful for her many blessings.  On the occasion of her 90th birthday in 2015, she wrote, “A simple act of kindness has a beauty all its own; therefore your prayers, wishes, cards and love are the treasures I truly appreciate.” She was an avid card player and a lover of chocolate.  A word often used to describe her was “gracious.”  Her favorite expression was “forever Young!” Sister Paula shared words of wisdom when she celebrated her 70th Jubilee as a School Sister of Notre Dame: “Thank God for what is and trust God for the future.”  May Sister Paula, now truly “forever Young,” be celebrating eternally all of the times she said “yes” to God’s call!