Sneak Preview # 4 The People’s Photo Album

Twins Mary (l) and Ann (r) at the family farm in James River, 1937.  Mary joined the Sisters of St. Martha and managed the farm at Bethany, including the pig barn.  In the days when the Marthas were in charge of food service at StFX for the priests and male students in residence, Bethany gardens and farm provided the kitchens with much of their meat and produce.  Mary’s pre-Vatican II name was Sister Katherine Vincent and when she worked in the Priests’ Dining Room in Morrison, Fr. Charles Brewer, Chief Librarian, dubbed her Kitty V.   When she applied for a job at StFX through then Business Manager, Tom Langley, she was hired by Fr. Brewer as his assistant at the Angus L. MacDonald Library.  After she retired from the Library, she served as Sacristan at the StFX University Chapel. She embodies the service ethic of the Marthas and the Antigonish Movement and has received every award going, including the honourary X-ring (2001) and the Alumni Award of Excellence (2010).  At the Annual Athletic Awards Banquet in the early 1980s, when Fr. George Kehoe was Director, she and Sr. Monica Doyle were celebrated for their support of StFX Athletics.  And by the way, she is a personal friend of Bobby Orr and his family.

The Marthas as founding members of the Antigonish Movement can be found on pp. 90-91 in The People’s Photo Album.   The launch is on Dec. 9 at the CACL-Legion, 6 to 8 p.m.