Mary Louise Donnelly, known to her family as "Mary Lou", was born in Clear Lake, South Dakota and baptized at St. Mary's Church in San Antonio, Texas. She was the daughter of Leo H. Donnelly and Martha Almyra Tollett. Mary Louise was the sixth of their eight children and the only girl.

Louise was very popular in high school and she had plenty of dates to school functions, town activities, and the affairs at the officers' club and hunt lodge in Fort Leavenworth. I will allow her to tell the next part of her story: "One evening on returning late from a dance I was saying my night prayers. I told Jesus I would never be able to choose a husband -- I liked something about each one of the fellows I dated. Jesus told me He would be the only one who could satisfy me, that I had a religious vocation. Many an hour I spent in prayer, arguing about this fact, and going through all the reasons against in. I joined the Sisters of Charity in Xavier, Kansas, and greatly enjoyed my decision to lead a religious life."

Louise studied under the sisters in grad school, high school, college and graduate school. Soon she began teaching and found that it came to her like second nature. For twelve years she taught first grade. She taught dancing and tumbling to all eight grades and also taught art. Her studies would eventually lead her to a Masters Degree in Religeous Education.

In time Sr. Louise became a grade school principal, then a diocesan Consultant for the elementary schools in the Diocese of Kansas City/St. Joseph, Missouri. She also taught education course at St. Mary College in Missouri.

Feeling a need for a change of pace, Sr. Louise transferred to a new religious community, the Sisters for Christian Community located in northern Virginia where her focus changed to teaching adults and doing parish ministry.

Sister Louise loved religious life. She observed, "I loved Jesus and greatly enjoyed my work in the Catholic Church. Religious life held many pleasures. I enjoyed praying, studying, and the solitude that was part of my nature."

While in Virginia, Louise discovered what would become another great love of her life, genealogical research. She loved to piece together the puzzle of family lines and no set of records was too obscure to evade her inquiring mind. People began asking Louise to share her research. Before long the interest was such that she began to publish her family histories.

During a time of great changes in Religious Communities, Sr. Louise found her Community disbanding. Not being one to bemoan the past, she quickly obtained a position as a Director of Religious Education at St. John's Catholic Church in Ennis, Texas and began life as a single lay woman in 1987. Texas had attracted her because it was in Texas that most of her relatives lived.

Louise applied her gifts and experience to this work to the benefit of the parish community at St. John's. In 1990 this work was recognized by the National Association of Parish Directors. A write-up of her endeavors appeared in the Nov./Dec. issue of Today's Parish.

When she retired in 1993 Louise saw this as the opportunity to allow what had been an avocation to become a vocation. She began her genealogy work with a new zeal. In all Louise published some 30 books. Her biography has appeared in such works as the American Catholic Who's Who, Personalities of America, Kentucky's Who's Who in Genealogy, Who's Who in Heraldry and Genealogy, Washington 1986, and Who's Who in Religion.

Despite difficulties with her health, Louise continued to live life with joy and enthusiasm. She always had a new book or a revision in the works and she also found time to be one of the most voracious readers of the Ennis Public Library. To her surprise in recent years, she found herself teaching Bridge to a loyal following at the Library.

Louise loved life, but she did not fear death. Her Faith freed her from anxiety and allowed her to see God's hand in everything. She died from complications following knee replacement surgery on September 16, 2008 at the age of 81. We, who were blest to know her, will miss Louise. But we trust that she now has the joy of meeting those many faithful ancestors, whose lives she chronicled so lovingly.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz
December 2008