The words that I will be reading were prepared last spring in honor of Sister Madelyn’s 70th Jubilee. She shared this information as it was written by another sister.

As she celebrated her 70th Jubilee, Sister Madelyn Sullivan’s Irish eyes were smiling! She was born in Chicago, two days after Christmas in 1936 to John and Ellen Sullivan. Both of her parents were born in Ireland and eventually met in Chicago and got married. They were both very religious and wonderful parents. Sister Madelyn was baptized as Mary Ellen. She had one older brother, John, and one younger sister, Marge, still living in Illinois.

Although Sister Madelyn was taught by the Sisters of Providence in grade school, she got to know the School Sisters of St. Francis when she attended Alvernia High School. After graduating from Alvernia in 1954, she felt a call to become a School Sister of St. Francis. She entered the community on September 12 of that year and began her college education at Alverno College as a Postulant. Upon her reception in 1955, she was given the name Sister Madelyn.

Two years after her profession, Sister’s first mission assignment was to teach at St. Rita School in West Allis. Being close to Alverno, she took classes throughout the year and continued during the summer. After graduating from Alverno, she then attended Cardinal Stritch University and received her Master’s Degree in Education.

Sister Madelyn loved her education ministry of teaching elementary students between second and eighth grades. It had been her desire to become a teacher during her own grade school years. She also taught high school students in various religious education programs in the parish. She spent all her teaching years in the Milwaukee area even though she came from Chicago.

She spent the last 30 years teaching at St. Jude the Apostle School in Wauwatosa. It was so convenient for her because Sister lived right across the street from the parish and the school. During her whole life, she never had a desire to drive.

She retired from full-time teaching in 2011, after 54 successful years of being a teacher and helping thousands of students grow into successful adults. Even after retirement, she would return to St. Jude’s as a substitute teacher until 2017. Many of those students returned to St. Jude with their own children years later. Sister Madelyn also had been active in the parish, serving as a Eucharistic Minister and assisting at parish events.

In addition to teaching, Sister Madelyn stayed very close to her family in Chicago. After teaching each week, she would ride the city bus to the Greyhound depot or train station in downtown Milwaukee to spend the weekend with her parents, helping to care for them. When her brother John was around, he would meet her at the appropriate depot upon her arrival in Chicago. After her parents died, she remained close to her sister Marge and her family. She talked to them frequently on the phone and continued to visit them often.

In 1970, her brother John moved with his family of nine children to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her niece, being the oldest, recalls how her father would yearly drive her mother and the nine children back to Chicago every Christmas to spend time with his parents, Sister Madelyn, and his sister Marge and her family. Her niece also remembers annual trips to Milwaukee to attend Irish Fest - a fond memory for the family. Although John died at the early age of 51, his family remains very close to relatives in the midwest7.

Her family called her a master letter writer. She never forgot to send a birthday card or a handwritten note of thanks to anyone who sent a gift or did her a favor. Sister Madelyn was also blessed with her share of Irish wit. Her advice ever since the rise of technology and social media has been, “God answers KNEE-mails and messages, too!”

In 2017, Sister Madelyn moved to Maria Linden and four years later to Sacred Heart Convent which became her home. While there, she was always keeping everyone in her prayers and her Irish eyes were smiling whenever she would meet someone she recognized.

As she celebrated her 70th Jubilee, this was our wish for her: “May you have a world of wishes at your command / God and his angels close to hand / friends and family their love impart / and Irish blessings in your heart!”

And now, Sister Madelyn, you are in the presence of God and the angels, enjoying your eternal home. You joined your parents and brother John. Your traveling days by bus or train are over. May you be at peace, and let those Irish eyes smile forever. God be with you forever, Sister Madelyn.