Sister bids farewell to Seton campus after 41 years

Alumni invited to Mass to recall Sr. Joan’s service

By Ambria Hammel | May 21, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

CHANDLER — Seton Catholic High School will soon be without a name and face that has almost become synonymous with the campus. Sr. Joan Marie Madden, SC, will be returning to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill motherhouse this summer.

Sr. Joan, the school’s registrar, has held many teaching and staff positions over the last 41 years.

“There’s a time to weep and a time to laugh. This is both,” Sr. Joan said of her pending departure.

The school, which serves 550 students from 25 parishes, has become her family — with Sr. Joan the matriarch and historian.

She was always the “go-to” person to help straighten out a student’s or alumni’s name and records, according to Pat Collins, Seton’s principal, who has worked with Sr. Joan since 1992. The nearly 82-year-old nun and longtime member of the Phoenix Chorale has spent half of her life at Seton.

Sr. Joan remembers daily life on Seton’s first campus and the “jelly pan” method of making a maximum of two paper copies per week. She also remembers when roads near the school were made of dirt and recalls the details surrounding Seton’s fire in 1980.

Sr. Joan was the first to find a crucifix from a classroom wall in the fire’s wake.

“The cross itself was burned, but Jesus’ body was left untouched,” she said.

The wooden crucifix is now framed in Seton’s front office.

She’s a key part of Seton’s history, still donning the Sisters of Charity traditional navy blue bonnet. One of her blood sisters served as the 55-year-old school’s first principal.

Sr. Joan also made Seton history by becoming what Collins called the “original recycler on campus.”

“I would go around after lunch and take the [aluminum] cans out of the can,” Madden said. She recycled them for cash. “That’s how we bought some of our audio video equipment.”

Sr. Joan is known for her firm stance on recycling paper, even tiny scraps. That’s because she remembers how tough it was to make photocopies long before the copy machine or mimeograph.

“I’ve converted a number of the older faculty to recyclers,” Sr. Joan said. Some teachers print tests and other materials two pages to a sheet.

Her religious presence on campus has also helped convert the hearts of students and staff.

“She always provided a calming presence and a holy presence,” said Matthew Magnus, a 2005 alumnus. “She’s always been a kind person who was willing to help students and give a reminder that Jesus should be the focus, and as long as you’re doing God’s will, you should be OK.”

Other students revere her as well. They collected as many school uniforms and T-shirts from past events as they could and turned the patches into a large two-sided quilt as Sr. Joan’s farewell gift.

They also gave her a spiritual bouquet filled with memories and promises.

Some students pledged to visit the school’s chapel in her name while others vowed to enter adoration. One student promised to impart forgiveness in Sr. Joan’s honor and another will do an act of compassion.

“It’s heartening to realize that this is what they’re offering,” said Sr. Joan, who doesn’t believe in material gifts. “There’s nothing like prayer.”

The school set up the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Scholarship Fund in honor of Sr. Joan.

She’ll return to the Sisters of Charity’s motherhouse in Pennsylvania in June, where she plans to help in the secretary’s office, read to fellow sisters who are sight-challenged and sing in the choir.