Benedictine Sister Laurentia remembered for life of prayer and service

Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration Mary Laurentia Doyle, OSB died on Nov. 21 in Clyde, Missouri.

Alice Marguerite Doyle was born on July 31, 1932, in Ironwood, Michigan. She was the youngest of six children – four boys and two girls – born to Florence Elizabeth (Dickensen) and John Arthur Doyle. Her father was a mechanical and electrical engineer for a mining company. Her mother had a teaching certificate but did not work outside the home.

Alice attended the public school in Ironwood for kindergarten and first grade until 1939 when her father was transferred to Duluth, Minnesota. She was then taught by Dominican sisters at a Catholic grade school. For two years of high school, she was taught by Benedictines.

Alice remembered that the family liked music. Her mother played the piano, and she would play a little honky-tonk. Her father was a very serious man, but he liked to sing.

Alice’s father retired in 1949, and the family moved to South Bend, Indiana, when Alice was in her senior year of high school. She graduated high school in South Bend, having been taught by Holy Cross sisters.

As a child, she had intended to go to Saint Mary’s at Notre Dame because her brother had attended the University of Notre Dame. When she was in high school, one of the sisters asked her, “Have you ever thought about a religious vocation?” Alice thought about it during her senior year of high school, and it was part of her reason for wanting to go back to Duluth for college.

After graduation, she attended the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth for one semester. Following her call to religious life, she decided to leave school and enter the convent. Alice entered Saint Scholastica Monastery in Duluth in January 1951. She entered the novitiate in July of that year and received the name Laurentia, after her brother Larry.

She made her first profession of vows on July 11, 1952. She started to take additional college classes and earned a bachelor’s degree in education. She was sent to replace a teaching sister who had become ill in 1953 and taught kindergarten for the remainder of that year. She made final monastic profession on July 11, 1955.

She spent most of her teaching career with first and second grade students. She taught in various schools in Duluth, as well as in International Falls, Brainerd and Minneapolis. Her last assignment was teaching second grade in Chicago.

While Sister Laurentia was in Chicago, she became interested in transferring to the Benedictine Sisters in Clyde, Missouri, with the help and encouragement of a priest. Sister Laurentia was not unhappy with teaching, but she wanted a deeper prayer life. She spent almost two months at the congregation’s monastery in Mundelein, Illinois, before going to the Saint Louis monastery at the end of August 1976. She worked in the sacristy and maintenance. Sister Laurentia transferred her vow of stability to the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration on Oct. 9, 1978.

Sister Laurentia was assigned to the San Diego monastery in 1987 and worked in maintenance until 1993 when the monastery closed. From there, she went to Clyde and worked in the altar bread department. She also worked in housekeeping for several years, which was her favorite job. She sewed vestments and served as sacristan.

She once wrote, “I consider myself among the very fortunate in that I have been able to enjoy whatever tasks have been asked of me.”

A progressive neurological disorder caused Sister Laurentia to move to Our Lady of Rickenbach in 2017. She remained a vital member of community and graciously welcomed visitors. She wrote letters and poetry, made cards and sewed. She cherished her beloved Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football teams.

Sister Maria Victoria Cutaia, OSB and a hospice nurse were with Sister Laurentia when she handed her soul over to God. She is survived by her monastic family, nieces, nephews and many friends. A wake is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, and the funeral is at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at Our Lady of Rickenbach. Burial will follow later in Mount Calvary Cemetery.