Sisters of Charity Federation Archives

Sister Margaret Ann Fitzsimmons, S.C. Oral History

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Interviewer: Sister Francis Maria Cassidy, SC
Interviewee: Sister Margaret Anna Fitzsimmons, SC
Date: July 1, 1983
Editor: Sister Noreen Neary, SC
Date edited: November 20, 2020

Sr. Francis Maria:
Now you were one of our missionaries who went to Puerto Rico. And maybe you’d tell us a little
something about how you came to go to Puerto Rico, and how long you were there, and any
memories you have of your days there.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, you know we had become interested in the foreign missions, more or less, Sister. And one
group had already gone to Guayama, Puerto Rico. It seemed attractive. And I volunteered. And I
went with [Sister Therese Alma Carro] and Sister whom we called Sister Inez, [Sister Anita
Agnes Whalen]. And we came back in [1946], Sister... We're skipping a few... Everybody were
all very happy and very active there. We had the eight grades, of course. I think there were
maybe four missions in the country that the sisters...
Sr. Francis Maria:
Were you one of those sisters who went out to teach?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Sister, the others were more versed in Spanish. And at first I did not go until later when I could
help, not so much with the language as with other little things.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Well, when you went there, Sister, did you go down there to teach in the school? And did you do
that?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, yes. I think that was the idea, the hope of everybody who went, Sister. We had been
teaching here and we knew the school there was well-established. Really, it was not too unlike
our parochial schools here and we could have every confidence.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Do you remember the grades that you taught there, Sister?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes, Sister. I had the eighth grade, Sister. It was more or less departmental to more than it is or
was at home here. Teachers who, of course, taught Spanish. [Sister Maria Rosa Delgado] was
one of our special teachers.

Sr. Francis Maria:
Who are some of the sisters who were there with your time, do you remember any of these
sisters?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Sister Therese Alma went down. Sister Inez, whom she was called, and [Sister Miriam Gertrude
Geis], of course, were there. And [Sister Irene Clare Gallagher], who is now and since that time.
We came up in ‘46 and she went to the Virgin Islands and is still there. [Sister Teresa Agnes
Gilrane] was there and Sister Gertrude something, who died a few years after coming home.
She's not living now. Yes, I meant to ask Sister Miriam about that name because it has been
familiar to me until yesterday or today.
Sr. Francis Maria:
We all forget names.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
We always forget our own.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Was the convent still on the upper floor of the school?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Oh, yes.
Sr. Francis Maria:
...the school?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
It was there, Sister. I think it was the third floor. We didn't mind climbing in those days. And on
the convent, too, was a roof that we enjoyed. We were there always unless in the chapel or
school.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Did you recreate on the roof?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
We did, Sister, yes, and it was delightful.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Do you remember any particular recreations, what you did at recreation?
Sr. Margaret Anna:

Well, I think we did little singing, Sister. It wasn't difficult. The time flew. Recreation, Sister.
But not too long before we came up, someone gave us a turkey live and of course we were
anxious to taste it. And some little boy whom we had a lot of contact with, it seemed... Oh, he
said... I guess we were talking about it. And he said, well, he could. So we had a circus on that
roof. We had to resort to somebody a little bit stronger than this little lad. He was, what, I think
about 12 years old.
Sr. Francis Maria:
To kill the turkey and prepare it for you. Now, you came up, then, in 1946.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes.
Sr. Francis Maria:
And I guess for the sisters who were stationed there or missioned there it was a sad occasion...
Sr. Margaret Anna:
It was, yes.
Sr. Francis Maria:
...to leave the mission. To leave.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, Sister, the priests – the Redemptorists – were anxious. They felt they were in need of high
school teaching. And we really didn't realize how anxious they were about it or… However,
[Mother Mary Benita Kane] was in office at that time, felt and she knew that we couldn't one
year after another, in addition of two staff, a high school sister. And that was the reason thatSr. Francis Maria:
And then another order came in to replace you?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes, some from the west, Sister. The middle west. I think they are not there at all now. The
school doesn't... I believe it doesn't exist. We heard that rather recently.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Now what about the packing up and the going and the trip home again?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, we were anxious about how we were going to get home because we couldn't travel just
with our handbag home, you know, but we did come up by boat, Sister, and we enjoyed it, and
we were so glad to see the fresh fruit when we got here. Although we did have plenty of bananas

down there as you know, and oranges. I think early in August that we came and we really
enjoyed the trip once we got on the boat.
Sr. Francis Maria:
What were the last days like in Puerto Rico? Busy, I suppose?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Oh, yes, of course we were busy, Sister, and everybody not knowing where she was going the
next month or so.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Into the Motherhouse, did you?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes, we did, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Someone meet you at the boat?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, I don't think anyone from here met us, Sister. There were... That is... I don't think anyone
from the Motherhouse met us, but we were met with a couple of friends. Everybody had a couple
of friends or relatives who... I don't know how he managed to get the date. I think the priest, I
forget who he was now. I think he took care of those things.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Yes. In other words, you didn't have the responsibility...
Sr. Margaret Anna:
No, we didn't.
Sr. Francis Maria:
...of arranging your transportation.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
No.
Sr. Francis Maria:
But did you come to Convent when you returned before goSr. Margaret Anna:
Yes, we did come to Convent, Sister. And...

Sr. Francis Maria:
You said it was August and school, of course, wouldn't be starting ’til September? So did you
have a little rest? Do you remember anything about that period?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Indeed, Sister, and I think that around that time up in Bergen County was opening for a
residence.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Was it Mount Saint Andrew’s?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Oh, yeah. My mistake. Thank you, Sister. Yeah, that was rather new, I think, then using it in
that...
Sr. Francis Maria:
In that capacity now.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes. And so I remember being there for several weeks during the summer.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Just to get your sites fixed.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
That’s right and keep from being too idle.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Yeah. Did the children know that you were going?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
I think they did. Oh, yes, they did, Sister, because the parents wouldn't be for the benefit of those
who succeeded us getting the children mentally adjusted.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Make the transition easy.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
That's right. Yes.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Do you remember whether the children showed sorrow or regret? How did they behave? Like
our own children would with sisters leaving whom they loved?

Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, I suppose they did, Sister, but I think that didn't impress us as much as other things.
Sr. Francis Maria:
What impressed you?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, we were sorry that the mission could not continue. I think at that time the mission in
Santurce had been opened several years before, so that was still... And that was down near San
Juan where our sisters were.
Sr. Francis Maria:
So was Guayama more remote?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Please, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Was Guayama more remote?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Down at the southern coast, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
So if a choice had to be made of closing one, it would have been Guayama, rather than Santurce?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Oh, well. Yes, it was, Sister. And there was the need there as the priest thought of high school
teaching.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Did you visit the sisters down at that other mission very often? Or did they come to visit you?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, yes. We didn't visit too often, Sister. Every now and then we would have to go down
around San Juan to do a little shopping, and that made it helpful to get to visit them. Before we
did come up, we all went over to St. Thomas and spent a delightful week.
Sr. Francis Maria:
In the Virgin Islands.
Sr. Margaret Anna:

That's right, Sister. We used to enjoy when the sisters went down on a mission to the Virgin
Islands. They usually stopped for some days, maybe a week, with us. And that was always a big
treat.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Sure it was a big treat for them, too. What kind of contact during the years you were there did
you have with the sisters up here in New Jersey? Was there correspondence back and forth?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
I guess I think it was personal, Sister. Whether you... Not in any formal or organized way. And I
think now and then we heard from the Motherhouse. I guess I think we did write more or less
regularly.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Who was the Sister Servant during those days?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
You mean up here, Sister?
Sr. Francis Maria:
No. I mean in Puerto Rico and in the last days, in the closing days.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, Sister, when I went there, I succeeded [Sister Mary Anita Lane] until I left in '46.
Sr. Francis Maria:
So the responsibility, in a sense of closing the mission, was on your shoulders. I know that you
had the help of the other sisters. How did you go about it?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, I don't think, Sister, there was any really set plan. Everybody was thoughtful and they
understood conditions. Everybody did. And there was no problem at all, Sister, getting things
done that had to be taken care of.
Sr. Francis Maria:
So you don't remember hectic days or any particular difficulties?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
I think not, Sister. No.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Well, Sister, I think that the way you've explained your last days there in Puerto Rico is probably
the way that you've gone ahead with your whole life. No, no difficulties.

Sr. Margaret Anna:
Right, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Nothing was the problem. Everything took care of itself in the hands of God. And after you came
from Puerto Rico, Sister, what other work then were you assigned to?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
That year, Sister, I went to the Carmelites.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Englewood? Englewood? St. Cecilia's?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Next to it.
Sr. Francis Maria:
No? Next to that in Teaneck?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Mount. Carmel [School in Tenafly, New Jersey]
Sr. Francis Maria:
Oh, Mount Carmel in Ridgewood? No? Well, try again. Never mind, you went to a mission in
Bergen County. Did you go as a teacher or as a principal or as a…
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Well, in those days, Sister, at least most of us did teaching, as well as trying to act as principal.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Trying to act as principal. I'm sure you did a beautiful job. Well, maybe a little later on... You're
shaking your head no. Of course you did. You've done a very beautiful job. Well, Sister
Margaret, you've been then at Saint Anne Villa since you left Marillac House.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Yes, that's right, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
And would you go back in your memory a little bit to the day you entered and just tell us what
year that was?
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Oh, my land, Sister. The year is easy – 1919.

Sr. Francis Maria:
That's all we'll ask you, Sister. But you've traveled along and I know a happy road since then.
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Thank God. Yes, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
Yes. Well, Sister, you've been very good with your memories. I am going to now release you
from those memories to move into the present because in about two minutes your lunch will be
served. And I know that you'd like to get to the dining room and have your lunch. And I thank
you very much. And these are very precious memories that you've...
Sr. Margaret Anna:
Nice speaking with you, Sister.
Sr. Francis Maria:
...left with us.

Dublin Core

Title

Sister Margaret Ann Fitzsimmons, S.C. Oral History

Subject

Fitzsimmons, Sister Margaret Anna, S.C.; Colegio de San Antonio; Guayama, Puerto Rico; Mount Carmel School, Ridgewood, NJ

Description

Description of Sister's years as teacher and superior at the Colegio de San Antonio in Guayama, Puerto Rico

Creator

Fitzsimmons, Sister Margaret Anna, S.C.; Cassidy, Sister Francis Maria, S.C.

Source

Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth

Date

July 1, 1983

Contributor

Neary, Sister Noreen, S.C. (Editor)

Rights

Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth

Format

Audio/mp3

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Identifier

Sister Margaret Anna Fitzsimmons describes her years as teacher and superior at the Colegio de San Antonio in Guayama, Puerto Rico

Coverage

July 1, 1983

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Cassidy, Sister Francis Maria, S.C.

Interviewee

Fitzsimmons, Sister Margaret Anna, S.C.

Original Format

cassette tape

Duration

0:12:39

Citation

Fitzsimmons, Sister Margaret Anna, S.C.; Cassidy, Sister Francis Maria, S.C., “Sister Margaret Ann Fitzsimmons, S.C. Oral History,” Sisters of Charity Federation Archives, accessed March 28, 2024, https://scfederationarchives.org/items/show/66.

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