The AASH 2011-2013 Board of Directors

Wish all Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart

Dear President Kimiko, Member Emerita Reiko and JASH members and families,

In the United States at a certain hour every day the Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart are joined in prayer. Please know that we keep you close to our heart and in our daily prayers as you deal with this crisis.  We know the resilience of the Sacred Heart in Japan will serve well their country in crisis. Please let us know if we can be of service to you in this time of great sadness. 

In union with you in the Sacred Heart.

Beth Lowry Speck

AASH President USA

Dear Beth,

Thank you ever so much for your warm message. Although ten days have passed since the earthquake and tsunami, the lifeline in the disaster area has not yet been restored. We do not know exactly how much damage the whole country has received. As JASH members live all over the country, we are still very much worried. We feel really encouraged to know that you are with us in thought and prayers.

Gratefully,

Kimiko

(Kimiko Hotta, JASH President)

From the Motherhouse, a message from Masako Egawa:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2011

St. Louis, MO - The Associated Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart 2009-2011 Board of Directors have hired Susan King as National Office Director to replace Jeanne Burke O’Fallon. Jeanne will be leaving the position May 31, 2011 after serving for the past 17 years under AASH Presidents Olga Seiferth Rome, Mary Jane Taber Houlihan, Marion E. Glennon, Maryliz deVito Lincoln (RIP), Nancy Ross Agnew, Barbara Brown Lopiccolo, Adele O’Grady Botticelli, Marcelle Eason Amory and Beth Lowry Speck.

Susan is a public relations, communications and media expert and has received numerous awards in her field. The last two decades she worked for St. Luke’s Hospital, Fontbonne University and, most recently, Visitation Academy, all in St. Louis. She has worked closely with development and alumni officers at both educational institutions, assisting them in their relationship-building and fund-raising efforts. While Susan is not an alumna of a Sacred Heart school, the 2009-2011 AASH Board is convinced that she appreciates and will continue to grow in an understanding of AASH’s cherished heritage and goals. Susan writes, "I am certain that I can embody the mission, values and charism of the Sacred Heart and promote it well...I know several Sacred Heart alums and can see the value of a Sacred Heart education in these wonderful and successful people."

Outgoing President Beth Lowry Speck, who has served on the AASH Board in many capacities for the last 12 years, states, "Jeanne will be a hard act for Susan to follow. Her devotion and commitment of time have been invaluable to the success of our organization. It will be bittersweet as we both move on, but we do so confident that the AASH National Office is in good hands." Jeanne O’Fallon adds that she is grateful to able to turn over her duties to someone of Susan’s skill and generous spirit.

AASH Vice President Maureen Ryan, slated to be President in 2011-2013, will be working closely with Susan to acquaint her with the many ways of Sacred Heart and AASH and to maximize Susan’s special talents so that AASH continues to thrive and to serve its alumnae and alumni across the United States and Western Canada.

Susan will officially begin her new position on June 1, 2011, and prior to that she will be welcomed at the 38th AASH Biennial Conference in Miami April 7-10, 2011

RSCJ Stories from Japan

Map courtesy RSCJ International

Thank you for your prayers and concerns following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, March 11th. The death toll continues to rise, especially in the areas that were badly damaged by the tsunami, which swept away so many houses, cars, and lives in a moment. We have RSCJ in Sapporo, Tokyo, Susono, Nagoya and Takarazuka. None of our communities is located in the hardest hit areas of Japan. Thankfully, all members of the RSCJ community in Japan are safe.

The full impact of this terrible tragedy will not be known for weeks, months, possibly years. In the words of Koko Nagano, RSCJ, Provincial of Japan, "Please continue praying for the people who lost their lives, those who were seriously injured, those who are in shock and fear." .

While our sisters and schools are not in the immediate vicinity of the quake, both the shocks and the impact of the tremors were felt:

• Due to interruptions in transportation, many children at the primary schools in Tokyo were not able to make it home on the night of the 11th. Sisters and staff stayed with them in the schools and in RSCJ communities.
• Some parents walked for hours to get to their children.
• The graduation ceremony at the University of the Sacred Heart, scheduled for March 12, was canceled. Many students, their families and staff found refuge overnight in university buildings.
• The provincial house suffered minor physical damage.
• Utility services have been interrupted, and there are food shortages.
• Residents – even in Tokyo – have taken to keeping a helmet and emergency backpack with them at all times.
• Transportation continues to be unavailable, as train lines are closed to conserve electricity and congestion prevents travel by bus.
• The ongoing fear of nuclear disaster and the threat of aftershocks pervade the country.

Parents of the students in RSCJ care have expressed their gratitude for the knowledge that even though they could not reach their children for hours, they knew their children were cared for and safe.

If you want to help the people of Japan, we recommend you contribute to one of the international relief agencies at work in Japan, go to http://www.rscj.org or https://secure.crs.org/site/Donation2?df_id=4061&4061.donation=form1&s_src=crs-homepage

Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ has completed a biography of Kathryn Sullivan, RSCJ, Professor at Manhattanville College, biblical scholar, first woman member of the Catholic Biblical Association.

Kathryn Sullivan, RSCJ (1905-2006): Teacher of the Word

We are trying to assess how many copies to print. Probable cost will be $15 plus postage. If you are interested, please notify Dot Schmerbauch at the Provincial Office: dschmerbauch@rscj.org.

Thank you so much for this lovely exhibit. The images are so beautiful and of course bring us all back to earlier times.  This is so well done.  Loving gratitude, Betsy Walsh rscj

You have lifted my heart, spirit, and hopes. 

Sincerely from Mary Shay McGuire Newton '64

So grateful to you for this lovely gift in honor of Mater.  We are busy preparing for tomorrow when we will give our boys the holy cards from Malta for the first time.  We will send you our own photo of our statue so that we can be included.

Nancy Taylor, Head of Regis School for Boys, Houston

Dear All,

Thank you for the lovely Mater's Feast Day message. Wally's presentation is so beautiful! It brings back many happy memories. Please know that my thoughts and prayers will be with you tomorrow and always!

Love in the Sacred Heart,

Olga Rome

Thank you very much.  This e-mail for the celebration of the Feast of Mater Admirabilis, October 20, is FANTASTIC…. I enjoyed the movie very much.

Tensy Gimenez

Thank you for this beautiful gift!!!  Happy Mater's feast to all the wonderful women who were our Mothers, mentors, teachers and all to so many of us (especially the Cuban girls who came out in the 60's and were scattered all over the Sacred Heart Schools).  I had the wonderful fortune of being at Coteau during those difficult years and don't know what would have been of my life if it had not been for the wonderful nuns whom I keep in my prayers daily!

Happy Mater's Feast to all.

Elena Bousquet Galbis – Coteau

This was truly lovely. I took my family to Rome to see the original, it was awesome…. 

Fondly,

Louise Govan Wilson '68

Thank you very much. I have my Mater shrine set up each May and October,

Barbara G. Mahany

This is beautiful!  I loved seeing each and every photograph.  Thank you so much for sending this lovely Feast Day reminder ...and thanks to Wally Gunn Strobach for the creation of this gem.

Merci beaucoup for a delightful surprise in today's email.   Again my thanks to all at the AASH organization along with my prayers for your continuing inspirations.

Happy Mater's Feast Day tomorrow!

Fondly,

Michelle Lastreto O'Neal

CSH Broadway '60, '64

Thank you for sending this collection of the Many Faces of Mater.  We were in Italy this summer, and one of my greatest joys was to go to the Trinita to see the original Mater.

Sincerely,

Carol Wright Temme

ASH St. Charles, Mo  1960

Thank you so much for uniting us in the love of Mater.  We had a lovely celebration at Carrollton with a luncheon.  Hope to see many of you in Miami in April. 

Alicia G. Moreyra, President

AASCJ Cuba in Exile

What a wonderful Sacred Heart weekend!  Once again, the 2009-2011 AASH Board travelled to St. Charles for our annual Board meeting.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to meet and stay in such a Holy place for the second time.  In addition to the scheduled business on the agenda, the weekend was full of highlights including a visit to the U.S. Provincial office, a tour of Villa Duchesne,  meeting at the newly renovated AASH office and eating an exquisite meal by Jane Cannon I will never forget- just to name a few.   As  Saturday morning arrived and I sat at the last business meeting of the trip, I came to the rather emotional realization that the exact group of women around me will most likely never be gathered in St. Charles again in this same context.  It has been and is a true honor to serve with them in the AASH mission.    

We have just adjourned our AASH board meeting in St. Charles. Once again, I am amazed that no matter which school we each attended and no matter what our ages, we all speak the same "Sacred Heart" language. These women are amazing and are so dedicated to supporting all alumnae/i from all schools! 

See the many great photos Maureen Ryan just posted at Central Region News of Chicago alums gathering for a Josephinum Academy benefit.

See "Please Pray For" to read a death announcement of one of AASH's shining stars and Past Presidents, Dr Anita V. Figueredo, who died Feb. 19 at the age of 93.

The alumnae of Los Angeles lovingly created a two-disc DVD account of the AASH 2009 National Conference that they hosted in April, 2009. They recently provided some extra copies to the AASH National Office.  If you are interested in a copy, please write the AASH Office at nationaloffice@aashnet.org or phone 1- 888-622-7421. 

Sacred Heart has a long tradition within our Catholic Society that I am thankfull based on my family heritage.  The founding principles of ethics and morals with our faith provides foundational training should not be forggoten or abandoned, which is what the fire within all of us from Sacred Heart strive for in society today.  I hope for all our clergy, teachers, and students who have the similar appreciation and love.

August 12, 2009

Presidential Medal of Freedom and Two Sacred Heart Alumnae

Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009) and Mary Robinson

SAINT LOUIS - As a 1984 winner is memorialized, a 2009 recipient is at the White House to accept America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. Both are alumnae of the Sacred Heart and represent the leadership, service, and hope that Sacred Heart education seeks to engender in its students. 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver attended Sacred Heart academies at Maplehurst in the Bronx, New York, Noroton, Connecticut (1937-1938), and, while her father was ambassador to the Court of St. James, Roehampton, England. She attended Manhattanville College. Her mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, her daughter, Maria, and many other family members, are also “ours.” 

Mrs. Shriver’s commitment to those with intellectual and physical disabilities led her to found the Special Olympics. Her family’s statement summarizes her beautiful life:  "Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing - searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more…"

With the theme of “Women of Conscience,” the 1991 AASH National Conference in New York City honored Mrs. Shriver’s work.

Mary Robinson, an alumna of Mount Anville Convent of the Sacred Heart in Dublin, was the first female President of Ireland (1990 – 1997) and a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 – 2002.) Honoring her as “an agent of change,” the White House statement adds:

… she continues to bring attention to international issues as Honorary President of Oxfam International and chairs the Board of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI Alliance).  Since 2002 she has been President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, based in New York, an organization she founded to make human rights the compass that charts a course for globalization that is fair, just and benefits all.

The foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart and its schools worldwide, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, in the words of a recent biographer, “hoped that the education would be profound enough to inspire pupils to rebuild, renew, and transform society, wherever they lived.”  Hopefully Sacred Heart education can claim a part in the rebuilding, renewal, and transformation Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Mary Robinson represent.

While offering our loving sympathy to Maria Shriver and the entire Kennedy family and our congratulations to Mary Robinson, the AASH sends this message to all our Sacred Heart educators and coworkers as a new school year begins. May these stellar examples energize us as we seek to illuminate the path of faith, service, and courageous leadership for all our students and alumnae and alumni. 

Jeanne Burke O'Fallon for the AASH Board of Directors 2009-2011

If anyone has information on how to see the fresco of Mater in Rome, would you please send it to me?  I will be there in October.  Thank you very much.

AASH 2008 National Directory Update: All of the print directories ordered through PCI were mailed in December.  Those who ordered a paper directory only should have received theirs by now.  If someone ordered a CD only or the Pride of Alumni package (paper directory, CD, and logo items) – those are scheduled to be sent within the by January 25, 2009.  Individuals should contact Suzy Kratochvil by email at (correspondingsecretary@aashnet.org) if they have not received what they ordered by January 31^st.  They may also contact PCI directly at 1 800 982-1590.