By Catherine Walsh, Senior Writer
As a high school student in Glenamaddy, County Galway, Ireland, in the 1960s, Mary Hogarty loved the Sisters of Mercy who taught her. When Sister Mary Emmanuel, RSM, from Auburn, California, visited her school one day to talk about vocations and serving in “the missions” of the United States, Mary was deeply moved.
Mary was excited to interview with Sister Mary Emmanuel and learn more about becoming a Sister of Mercy. “I was only 16, but I knew that this was what I was going to do,” she recalls. “I signed up and didn’t tell my mother.”
Sister Mary Emmanuel visited Mary’s mother, and with her parents’ blessing, Mary entered the Sisters of Mercy in County Kerry, Ireland, on September 8, 1965.
On February 14, 1966, she flew to the United States to begin her love story with Mercy in earnest. Mary arrived with Sister Susan McCarthy, RSM, who is still a good friend. They were among other Irish sisters responding to the Sacramento, California, bishop’s plea for English-speaking sisters to help educate the many American children flooding into Catholic schools during the post-World War II baby boom.
Mary loved the mistress of novices, Sister Mary Benignus, RSM, an older sister who relished her young charges. “We were just kids, teenagers from America and Ireland, and she was wonderful to us, very comforting, kind and prayerful,” says Mary. “You felt good in her presence.”
For seven years religious life was Mary’s calling. She took temporary vows and trained to be a nurse. However, she was increasingly unhappy and felt called to a different path. Mary left the convent. She soon met and married her husband, Patrick, who is of Irish descent and shares her Catholic faith and values. The couple, who adopted a son Jason and have six grandchildren, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. “Pat is a very loving, kind man who is very good to me and I to him,” says Mary. “We are very blessed.”
Her close bonds with the Sisters of Mercy in Auburn are also an important part of her life. “I was so young when I left Ireland and Mercy was like my family,” she reflects. “I have never stayed away.” A Mercy Associate since 1992, Mary volunteers weekly at Mercy Center Auburn and attends retreats there regularly.
Mary worked as an assistant hospital administrator for Kaiser Permanente before retiring after a nearly 40-year career. She is a loyal donor and member of the Sisters of Mercy Legacy Society. Knowing that her donations help support sisters, especially those in declining health, means much to her. “Although I’m saddened when I lose cherished friends among the sisters, I am grateful that I can help support their care in their final years.”