By SR. SARAH MANCHESTER
OSF, Vicar
The story of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity in Alliance, NE, began in 1907. By necessity of connection St. Agnes Academy, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Marian Residence (all ministries of the sisters in Alliance) have histories that intertwine through 115 years.
St. Agnes Academy, a boarding and day school, which was run by the sisters, opened in September 1908. The enrollment quickly grew from 89 students in September to 128 students by the end of the first year! The boarding school ended in 1961 and was turned over to Holy Rosary Parish in 1964. The grade school which closed in 1964 was reopened in 1977. The high school closed in 1988. St. Agnes Academy continues with a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade curriculum today.
St. Joseph’s Hospital came into existence in 1911. Marian Residence was the student residence for the nursing students at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing. After the school became accredited with Minot State College, students went to Minot, ND, for college courses. With the closure of the School of Nursing in 1954, the building was remodeled.
By August of 1954, Marian Residence was opened as the Marycrest Aspirant School to serve young women of high school age, who felt the call to religious life, but could not attend a Catholic school. By 1959, there were 28 aspirants. After 12 years, the Marycrest Aspirant School closed due to trends in religious life and staffing issues.
The summer of 1966, St. Agnes Academy needed more classroom space. The academy was remodeled and the 16 sisters that lived there moved to Marian Residence.
In 1975, St. Joseph’s Hospital made plans to become a Gerontology Center. Some of the sisters moved to Marian Residence, where it was being converted into a boarding residence for the elderly. By 1977, more sisters moved into Marian Residence.
The Senior Citizens Nutrition Center was established in the gym where 80-90 elderly people received meals Monday through Thursday. By 1979, there were only two permanent elderly boarders, but others came at intervals to recuperate from surgery or illness. Elderly and infirm sisters, retired sisters, and younger sisters from St. Joseph’s Gerontology Center moved to Marian Residence.
There was more renovation each time the purpose and occupants of Marian Residence changed. The sisters continued to recycle and reuse articles from one Franciscan location to another.
By 2014, only four sisters lived at Marian Residence. In 2015, five more came. Today the community of sisters there has again diminished to four. The doors of Marian Residence are being closed for the last time, as the remaining sisters move to new homes in Alliance, NE or Denver, CO.
On Sunday, May 15 there will be a Closing Ritual at Marian Residence, 1104 Toluca Avenue, Alliance, at 2 p.m. There will be time to share a story from the history of Marian Residence. Come share in the memories.