Dominican Sister of Peace Anne Regis Hartnett, OP (91), a native of Cambridge, MA, died on July 3, 2016, at Sansbury Care Center, St. Catharine, KY.
In 1945 Sr. Anne Regis entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine, (St. Catharine, KY) now the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English/Psychology/Philosophy from Siena College (Memphis, TN) and a Master of Science in Education/Guidance from Memphis State University (Memphis, TN).
She ministered as a teacher at St. Patrick School (Montgomery, LA); Rosary Academy (Watertown, MA); St. Agnes Academy (Memphis, TN); Our Lady of Lourdes (Queens Village, NY) and Arlington Catholic High School (Arlington, MA). Sister served as a Guidance Counselor at St. Agnes Academy (Memphis, TN); Rosary Academy (Watertown, MA) and Arlington Catholic High School (Arlington, MA). Sr. Anne Regis also ministered as principal at Holy Rosary Academy (Louisville, KY) and Rosary Academy (Watertown, MA). Sister later provided community service at Rosary Manor in Watertown, MA.
Sr. Ann Frederick Leonard first met Sr. Anne Regis as they traveled together on the train from Boston to enter the novitiate. Six young women (Srs. Thomas Bridget, Richard Marie, Michaeleen, Trinita, Anne Regis and Ann Frederick) were in a parlor car, sitting around a table. Sr. Ann Frederick remembered that they almost got put off the train because they were so boisterous.
Sr. Josepha Buckley recalled that, when she entered the postulancy at St. Catharine’s, Sr. Anne Regis was assigned as her "novice," with the responsibility of teaching the new postulant the ways of the convent. Sr. Josepha plagued Sr. Anne Regis with questions and remembered her as always patient, kind, gentle, and with a good sense of humor.
In her reflection at the funeral Sr. Elaine DesRosiers said:
In the Gospel we hear Jesus say, "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. I am sending you like lambs among wolves." Sr. Anne Regis, like a young lamb and just out of the novitiate, was sent on mission to reap the harvest among the poor in Louisiana. Sr. Paschala, in the book Signadou, describes how Mother Margaret Elizabeth in 1946 answered the call of Dominican Father Edward Curtis to help the Louisiana missions in Montgomery. Sr. Anne Regis was sent to join Sr. Rose Rita Murry and Sr. Joseph Fosskuhl. Their small convent was nestled among homes made of logs or unfinished lumber in an area of appalling poverty.
When Thomas and Francis Hartnett visited their young daughter, Sr. Paschala reports that they brightened the little convent with curtains. When they saw the terrain the Sisters had to cover on weekend trips to the out-missions, Thomas bought them shoes with cleats to get them through the slick, slippery, gumbo soil.
When her three year stint as a missionary ended, Sr. Anne Regis was assigned to Rosary Academy in Watertown, MA, close to her home town of Cambridge. With her great love for music, she taught music there and later at St. Agnes Academy in Memphis, TN.
As Principal of Holy Rosary Academy in Louisville, Sr. Anne Regis shared her talent as pianist by performing for many school events.
In her almost 50 years in academia she served as principal, teacher, musician, or guidance counselor in five states.
The Kentucky Dominicans were proud to have two Hartnetts in our congregation. Anne Regis’s younger sister Ellie was a member for several years. Even after she left the congregation, she remained very close to her big sister and to all of us until her death. Many Sisters have commented on the joyous reunion the two of them must be experiencing!
In 2001, Sr. Anne Regis moved to Sansbury Care Center (St. Catharine, KY), where she began a ministry of prayer.
Sr. Anne Regis is survived by one brother Thomas and several nieces and nephews.
The wake and funeral were held on June 7 and 8, 2016, at Sansbury Care Center Chapel, (St. Catharine, KY). Burial followed in the St. Catharine Motherhouse cemetery.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Anne Regis’ name may be submitted securely online or mailed to Office of Mission Advancement, Dominican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr., Columbus, OH 43219-2098.