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Sister Dorothy Marie, CSC
(Louise Bernadette Langlois)
December 26, 1932 – February 20, 2021
Entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross from Lynn, Massachusetts on September 8, 1952
Initial Profession of Vows on August 15, 1955
Sister Dorothy Marie was born Louise Langlois in Lynn, Massachusetts on December 26, 1932. Her father, Frank J. Langlois, was a machinist and native of Lynn, north of Boston. Her mother, Dorothy Germaine Langlois, was originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Sister Dorothy Marie had two sisters: Dorothy or “Dot” and Bernice. Family ties were everything to Sister Dorothy Marie, including nieces, cousins, and their kin. Sister also left behind a long list of dear friends from across the United States.
One of those friends was a Jesuit priest she had met as a graduate in 1950 from Lynn Classical High School when Louise was a 19-year-old payroll clerk on a weekend retreat in the Boston area. She knew the Sisters of the Holy Cross at Holy Cross Academy in Brookline for only two years since that school had been newly established in 1948. Louise sought out Father Robert E. Sheridan as a spiritual director and he eventually wrote for her a letter of recommendation to Holy Cross. The Jesuit described himself as “an old padre” who enjoyed her visits as she talked over her studies, her work, and her dream of entering the convent. He wrote, “I was impressed by her pleasure in spiritual things.”
Miss Louise Langlois entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana on September 8, 1952. Upon reception of the holy habit on August 5, 1953 she received her name in religion, Sister Dorothy Marie, in honor of her mother, Dorothy. Sister’s sibling, also a Dorothy, made for a special connection. Seven months before initial profession of vows on August 15, 1955, Sister Dorothy Marie had already been sent to St. Paul’s School in New York City, New York to teach primary grades. She continued in elementary education through 1966 at parochial schools staffed by Holy Cross sisters in Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Batavia, New York. While an office manager at Holy Cross Academy in Brookline, Massachusetts she completed her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education at Cardinal Cushing College, Brookline, in 1969. It is not certain that Sister Dorothy Marie had ever aspired to be a teacher but, in those days, it was assumed that any Catholic sister could begin learning basic ministry skills by teaching the lower grades in a parish school. Since Sister Dorothy Marie could not help but smile, it is likely that she might have had difficulties in the classroom. There is some truth to the warning given to new teachers, “Don’t smile until after December,” for fear that students might not heed their authority. There is no doubt that Sister continued to smile then and throughout the rest of her life. She said of herself that she had an open, pleasant personality, was cheerful and liked people. And she liked to help people.
For whatever reason, Sister Dorothy Marie moved out of the classroom permanently and from1969 to 2007, could be found smiling and cheerful, helping people in business and finance offices. In 1981 she completed her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. Sister served as a treasurer or business manager for Dunbarton College, Washington, D.C.; Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana; Sisters of the Holy Cross Midwest Region, South Bend, Indiana as Treasurer; St. Joseph High School, South Bend, Indiana; St. Edward High School, Lakewood, Ohio; Holy Cross Junior College, Notre Dame, Indiana; Wynhoven Health Care Center, Marerro, Louisiana near New Orleans; Holy Cross Shared Services, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana; and Saint Catherine by the Sea Convent, Ventura, California.
Sister Dorothy Marie liked administration and financial management but also found it stressful at times. The numbers do not always add up when the projected institutional budget has unexpected losses of income. Directing financial aid leaves some people unhappy. Even simple accounting is never simple when people do not understand why there can be no blank checks. A thirty-day retreat in 1972 at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, Pennsylvania and two sabbaticals periodically restored some balance to Sister Dorothy Marie’s ledger. Sisters joke when they receive an unexpected, challenging assignment. “Yes, here I am. I will do it. By the way, do I get a raise?” At middle age, the CREDO Program at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington was a wonderful spiritual benefit, a hundredfold, for Sister Dorothy Marie from 1981-1982. As was a “Sarah Sabbatical” at Manna House of Prayer in Concordia, Kansas in 2008. Her spiritual life was nourished as she spent time with other women religious who were her peers, who had opportunities for re-creation and reflection on their original call and vocation from the vantage point of being in their seventies and eighties. These experiences so energized Sister that it is not surprising that in 1973 she had dreamed of establishing another house of prayer, in addition to two others that the Congregation already sponsored. Sister was not successful in that venture, but she may have eventually realized, given her constant searching for God experiences, that she was in God’s good company all along.
While in California at Saint Catherine by the Sea Convent from 1997 to 2013, Sister Dorothy Marie was the councilor for finance for ten years and then devoted time to making quilts and knitting shawls for newborns and their mothers. Her greatest joy was the three years she spent as a volunteer receptionist for the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, where she also took turns holding the babies born prematurely. She loved holding those infants in her arms.
Due to chronic health issues Sister moved to Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana in 2013. She loved visits from her sister Dot and had looked forward to one more trip to Boston. Dot’s death and her own frail health ruled out that wish. Sister Dorothy Marie enjoyed her community life at the motherhouse but had many restless nights of discomfort. After one last health crisis took her to the hospital, she soon asked to come back home to die among friends. Upon Sister’s return, her Sophia Community in Rosary Convent and so many other sisters, kept prayerful vigil with her in Saint Mary’s Convent where she died on a sunny winter morning on February 20, 2021. The green burial Sister requested took place on February 22 in Our Lady of Peace Cemetery under a blanket of snow. A Memorial Mass at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto will be celebrated later.
It is said that newborns can only see as far as the human face when cuddled. And the face they see is that of a God, an all-powerful, all-loving, all-comforting Mother. Long ago when Dorothy Marie rocked infants, she would have been the image of God herself with white hair, big warm smile, soothing voice, and soft heart. Let us pray that Dorothy Marie now sees God face to face and feels the embrace of Divine Love holding her daughter under her wings. (Luke 13:34)
--Sister Catherine Osimo, CSC
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