Tuesday, March 09, 1999
E-mail and music keep nun active
Computer is retiree's companion
BY LEW MOORES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DELHI TOWNSHIP — She agreed to move into the assisted-living section of Mother Margaret Hall, but only if she could bring the computer and Yamaha musical keyboard she has used for years.
“I can't come if I can't bring my computer,” said Sister Loretto Burke. “It had become so much a part of my life.”
That was no problem, she was told. So Sister Loretto moved from her Delhi apartment to Mother Margaret Hall, run by the Sisters of Charity, in January, becoming the first nun living there to have her own computer.
“These are my toys,” Sister Loretto said as she settled into a seat by her computer screen, which displayed a screen-saver of the Madonna.
Using the Yamaha keyboard, she composes music on her computer. She keeps in touch with friends and colleagues via e-mail, jumps around the Internet, reads the national editions of newspapers, tunes in to foreign broadcasts that she's able to pick up on her computer and does archival work for the College of Mount St. Joseph.
She also has become something of a resource at Mother Margaret, where other nuns will seek her out, ask her to show them the computer, and ask whether she can send e-mails to friends and family on their behalf.
Although the computer may appear something of an anomaly at Mother Margaret, it really isn't. These are women who have spent lives in professional pursuits, are college-educated for the most part and just happen to be of a generation that did not rely on computers.
Mary Kay Gilbert, a spokeswoman for the Sisters of Charity, said Sister Loretto may be the first to want and have a computer at Mother Margaret Hall, but it probably suggests a vision of the future.
“They want more than just the dresser and the bed,” said Ms. Gilbert of the nuns who will move into the facility. “They'll want the technology as well so they can continue their lifestyle.”
Sister Loretto, 76, began teaching music at St. Lawrence in Price Hill in 1942, taught out west — Albuquerque, Denver — for several years, taught music in Chillicothe and began teaching music at the College of Mount St. Joseph in 1971. She was chairwoman of the music department until 1984 and re tired in 1997.
She started working with computers in the mid-1980s, doing spreadsheets. Once she learned that, she began to learn more, becoming accustomed to their “whistles and bells,” as she calls the various functions.
Sister Loretto moved into Mother Margaret Hall for medical reasons, including a heart condition. She is one of 49 nuns in the assisted-living area; the nursing area has 97 beds. Four sisters died just two weeks ago. Those who live there are all retired, but most have stayed active.
They are among 643 sisters of the Sisters of Charity who either live here or are scattered to 26 states and four foreign countries. Their median age is 71. Most are professionals, in the fields of education, health care and social services.
“So many of these sisters are still doing things,” said Ms. Gilbert of the ones who live in Mother Margaret Hall. “They stay active even after they retire.”
Composing music keeps Sister Loretto engaged, after a lifetime of teaching music. She rises at 8 a.m., fixes breakfast, says her morning prayers, attends Mass. Then she sits down with her computer.
“It's nice to get up and have some kind of challenge,” she said.
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