Transcript Sister Mary Brendan Stack, IHM

Sister Mary Brendan Stack, IHM
1886 - 1961
Sister Mary Brendan was born Ellen
Mary Stack in Broguemakers Lane,
Tralee on 26 April 1886. Throughout
her life, she was known to her family
as “Elsie”
In 1898, together with her siblings,
following the death of her mother,
she entered the Pembroke Alms
Industrial School in Tralee which
was run by the Sisters of Mercy.
She remained at the Industrial
School until 1903, in which year she
travelled to Los Angeles to join the
Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent.
Sister Mary Brendan was baptised by Bishop Sullivan of
Killarney at St John’s, Tralee, Co Kerry on 1 May 1886.
RMS Carpathia
Ellen Mary sailed from Queenstown, Cobh (Co Cork) aboard the SS Carpathia
with 21 other young Irish coleens (described as "postulants"), arriving at Ellis
Island on 11 November 1903. From there they travelled by rail to Los Angeles
arriving on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday 26 November 1903.
Manifest of the "Carpathia" (1903). Ellen (Elsie) Mary Stack is shown
en-route to New York ( line 7).
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary consecrate their lives to promote the
honour and glory of God, to labour for the salvation of souls, to spread devotion to
the Mother of God, and to pray especially for the conversion of sinners.
These ends were in the mind of Father Joaquin Masmitja when he founded the
Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Sister Mary Brendan with her class in Cuba where she taught between 1911 and
1914, at which time she was "exiled under protest by a Spanish General". She
noted that she was an "innocent victim of political intrigue"
Sister Mary Brendan Stack's Bachelor of Arts awarded 1935
Sister Mary Brendan with Monsignor
James E Dolan at the dedication in
1957 of a new retreat, La Casa de
María, in Montecito near Santa
Barbara, California (below).
Sister Mary Brendan on a TWA
flight to Shannon Airport, Ireland in
1957 which flew over the North
Pole and took 19 hours and 26
minutes.
This was her only visit home to the
Erin Isle.
Sister Mary Brendan recalled that
her original trip to Los Angeles in
1903 had taken 17 days by sea
and railway.
Sister Mary Brendan (left) with
Sister Mary Julia Gutierrez, a
distant cousin of the famous Leo
Carrillo, from the families of
early Californians
The IHM Motherhouse in Los Angeles
Sister Mary Brendan
with her sister Mary
(on her left) in 1957.
The others have not
yet been identified.
Sister Mary Brendan
with her sister Mary
(right) in 1957. The
others have yet to be
identified.
Sister Mary Brendan with
her sister Mary (seated)
in 1957. The others have
not been identified.
Sister Mary Brendan with John and
Janie Walton during her visit to
Crawley (England) in 1957.
Last resting place of Sister Mary Brendan Stack: Calgary Cemetery,
Los Angeles, California
Sister Mary Brendan died in
1961. An extract from her
obituary, prepared by the
Immaculate Heart Convent
reads: "God called her from
our midst with very little
warning on July 12, 1961.
Hundreds of grief-stricken
former pupils and friends
flocked to Immaculate Heart
Convent to pay their last
tribute to one who in joy or
sorrow had always shown
interest, sympathy and love".
Sister Mary Brendan Stack, IHM 1886-1961