THE LOSS OF OUR MOTHER FOUNDRESS

 

                                                    With Community and Oblates

On October 28, our beloved foundress, Mother Therese Critchley passed to the Lord.  For most of us here, she was our novice mistress at the Abbey, so our relationship with her was long and deep. Even though she is not physically present, her spirit will always be with this foundation.   For a beautiful summary of her life by our Prioress Noella, go to our website-  olrmonastery.org.  Her funeral will be November 11 in our monastery cemetery.

She loved the Islanders, and they loved her in return. Here she is with the Foley twins and their grandmother, Marlin Hoffman and Father John Mollell from Tanzania. Henry Hoffman, whose family had been here 125 years, before they left, was a great help to the Community.

She loved all animals and could get them to do anything for her.   We called her the St. Francis of the Benedictine Order. Here with Koko & Bella, our

Portuguese Water Dogs..

She loved showing students the art of cheesemaking. Here she is with a group from Western Washington University. 

She was a Master Livestock Adviser for WSU, with specialities in dairy and chickens.

She loved her Jersey cows and had fine stock. On breeder told her he hated to see her come (laughingly) as she always spotted the best and wanted a good price.

She was a great Mariner fan and once had the chance to go to a game, sitting in a box thanks to benefactors, Deacon Larry McDonald and his wife Karen. Here she is shown with scarf and bag from the SF Giants- no she was not switching teams, but one of our Oblates had been a radiographer for the Giants, so presented her with these colorful items.

Liturgy meant everything to her.  Here she is with Mother Dilecta and Oblate Rob Wilson lighting the Easter fire.

This is how we usually saw her in work habit
as she spent so much time in the dairy.