Sister Margaretha Fitzgerald
Margaretha Fitzgerald was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, on January 26, 1942, and grew up in a family of nine (9) children. Her parents, Patrick Henry and Agnes Marie Kunkel Fitzgerald, made faith and family priorities. The children had several generations of family as models in both respects. We are happy now to share our celebrations of Sr. Greta’s life with more generations of family.
After graduating from high school, Margaretha entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in Ottumwa, Iowa, on September 8, 1962. She received the habit the following summer and her religious name, Sister Mary Isabelle. She was professed in 1965 and made final vows in 1970. After Vatican II she resumed use of her legal name, Sr. Margaretha Ann, and became known to all of us as “Greta”. She was one of a large group that entered religious life in the early ‘60s. Sr. Sue Sellers is her surviving classmate. The two of them continued contact over the years with some others who had left the community. Sr. Greta completed the Associate of Arts degree from Ottumwa Heights College in the novitiate and continued study at Marycrest College after professing vows. She received the BA in Elementary Education in 1967 and a MA, also in Elementary Education, from Marycrest, in 1977. She also completed a MA in Religious Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX in 1993.
Sr. Greta was an excellent teacher, as demonstrated for more than 40 years in schools in the dioceses of Des Moines and Davenport in Iowa, and Dodge City in Kansas. She taught in the middle grades for much of that time. In Iowa she taught in the farthest western location in Neola and east in Davenport and Bettendorf. In Des Moines, she made the rounds – St. Anthony, St. Theresa, and Christ the King schools.
Sr. Greta spent 12 years, between 1980 and 1992, at the “inner-city” Holy Trinity school in Davenport. It served students from St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s parishes, and was also supported financially by the congregation. She had companions there who survive her – Srs. Maggie Bennett, Catherine Linnenkamp and Nancy Schwieters. There was a lot of music with a band that performed throughout the year, and marched in holiday and commemorative parades. Videos of their performances may be found in diocesan records and, probably, in Sr. Maggie Bennett’s collections.
Sr. Greta taught for five years at Sacred Heart School in Dodge City, Kansas, but how and why she got there has yet to be learned.
Sr. Greta was one of the last CHMs to teach at St. Anthony’s School in Des Moines, a parish where many of our sisters experienced the Des Moines Italian community. She went there in 2000, and took pride in preparing students to read the scriptures for school Masses. When she left in 2009, only Sr. Joanne Mauro continued the Humility presence there. Sr. Joanne died in 2015.
Sr. Greta remained in Des Moines, and became a companion to a woman who was limited both in hearing and vision. Sr. Greta would drive to their home so her husband could go to work in the morning, and stayed into the afternoon when he returned. The two of them had a daily ritual with prayer, a “standard lunch”, listening to music and visiting.
In 2012 Sr. Greta moved to Davenport where she served the congregation as Vice-President for five (5) years at Humility of Mary Center until 2017. That meant developing skills in the use of technology and in participating in national organizations including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). It was said that she introduced playing games, during breaks, when the CHM leaders were meeting for several days at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.
An interview with Sr. Greta was published in The Catholic Messenger in 2015, during the Year of Consecrated Religious Life proclaimed by Pope Francis. She reflected on growing up in a home where faith was a given, where she was influenced by several generations of relatives, her home parish and the sisters who taught her at Ottumwa Heights. She loved the opportunities for higher education, the exposure to great spiritual writers, both in person and in their works. Her many friends, both inside and outside the community, have helped her grow. She said, “I experienced the need for others to receive my genuine caring for them as individuals….with a word or smile that makes a difference in others’ lives and in my life, too.”
Sr. Greta was a Cribbage player, and could be seen with Srs. Claudellen and Mary Bea Snyder playing after Mass on Sundays in the Center Community Room. She was generous, and was a regular “bringer of ‘gifts, especially chocolate, and, on request, even Peeps at Easter time’”. In fact there was a cup full of candy canes in the Center dining room on the day after she died, identifying her as the donor!
This concludes with a memorable “Greta story”, in which her actions demonstrate servant leadership, worth both admiration and imitation. It was 1990, during the Gulf war in the Middle East, in fact at this very time of the year as the source is an article published in The Catholic Messenger in January 1991. Two of her brother John’s children were on active duty, both truck drivers, one in Afghanistan and the other in Turkey. The idea for a banner came from her regular prayer for them, as well as from concerns about the war heard from the children. A big banner was made that was hung from the main altar in St. Joseph’s Church. Across the top in huge letters was, “We pray for peace in the Middle East, we pray for those we love….” Below were the 19 names initially given by the children, of relatives and friends they were concerned about, and for whom they prayed. Parishioners added more names after seeing the banner. She also provided colored ribbons on which anyone could name a person, in harm’s way for whom they prayed, then tie it to the chain-link fence in front of the school. The article quoted Sr. Greta’s observations of the children, “When we did this, it really got to them. They seem to feel a lot better.”
What a wonderful reunion and what a lot of laughter must be ringing out in heaven as Greta catches up with so many she knew and loved. Were they as surprised to see her as we were to lose her on such short notice? Her quilt square sums it up – “Religion, Teacher, Family: this is my life.”
Sister Mary Rehmann, CHM
Click here for Greta's post in "A Nun's Pocket" about her life of prayer...