Melanson obituaries/memorials, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

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Name, date of obit, date submitted, submitted for the USGenWeb Archives by:

Melanson, Sadie May (Sister Mary Rita)   
                                d. 4 May 1995    Mar, 2001    Don Johnson

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Memorial,  Sadie May Melanson (Sister Mary Rita), Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by with permission of
Dorothy Dawes, O.P. -- dmdawes@accesscom.net
580 Broadway, New Orleans, LA 70118, 504-861-8155,
FAX 504-861-8718 or 865-8079
photos at http://www.dominican-sisters.net/stmarys/memoria/melanson.htm

                                In Memory of
                           [Sr. M. Rita Melanson]
                              Dominican Sisters
                       Congregation of St. Mary
                              New Orleans

                             Sadie May Melanson
                       December 30, 1902- May 4, 1995

     "At the 1990 reunion at St. Anthony, she held court like a queen,
                  apparently enjoying herself immensely."

       Culminating ninety-two years on earth with seventy
       of those in religious life, Sister Mary Rita joined
       her group, now re-united, to celebrate a new life. Sr. Mary
       Jeanne went from Sr. M. Charles' funeral Mass to Sr. M. Rita's
       room and found that the last member of the group had joined
       the others, the last leaf fallen from the tree. She also
       joined ten brothers and sisters, all now deceased. One was
       Sister M. Angela, a Marianite of Holy Cross.

       Vespers held Monday evening, May 8 heralded a massive
       rainstorm; burial in Rosaryville had to be postponed for a
       week.

       At the funeral Mass on Wed, May 10, Father Ed Conley noted
       that thousands of children were taught by her. Men and women
       flocked to her at the seventieth anniversary celebration of
       St. Anthony's Parish in 1990 as "she held court like a queen,
       apparently enjoying herself immensely."

       Besides her twenty-eight years teaching at St. Anthony and
       nine more as principal, she also taught at Our Lady of
       Lourdes, St. Leo the Great, St. Mary's Dominican High School
       (English, History and French, 1932-1935) all in New Orleans,
       at St. Thomas Aquinas (now Holy Ghost) in Hammond, St. Peter's
       in Reserve and St. Agnes in Baton Rouge, all in Louisiana. She
       taught every grade from primer to seventh, but in 1946 settled
       into teaching sixth grade, and was never displaced from it,
       save for time out as principal.

       Sadie Melanson came to St. Mary's Dominican College from New
       Iberia, in Southwest Louisiana. After graduating with an A.B.
       in French and a minor in History in 1921, she entered the
       community in June, 1924, the senior in her group. (Although
       she never reached five feet in height, she was a bit taller
       than tiny Renee Trouard, Sr. M. Alexaidia.) Their group was
       professed in 1926. St. Anthony's was her first assignment.

       Sr. M. Aimee recalled, as all who lived with her were aware,
       that her body and especially her bones gave her little peace.
       Yet her teaching evaluation circa 1967 by a St. Joseph sister
       superintendent, was high praise. "Discipline: easy-relaxed.
       Teacher-pupil relations: Rapport." Evidently she had the gift.
       Her manner was determined, and she might compensate for her
       small stature or her physical limitations by whatever means
       available, but her pupils look back now and say it was a great
       deal more bark than bite. As Sister Therese pointed out at the
       vespers service, the record reflects that she retired
       gracefully with something of a flourish in 1980. She looked
       forward to having time to listen to the opera. "She found time
       for both classical and soap!"

       One side of her personality was pixie-like, and she could be
       playful, a bit of a coquette, enjoy teasing and making jokes.
       This side emerged as she mellowed into what Father Conley, in
       preaching at her funeral called the "third age." One would be
       well advised, however, to spell this Melanson with an "s," or
       there could be a message of correction from another realm.

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