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M. Gabrielle Hagerty, BVM

M. Gabrielle Hagerty, BVM died Tuesday, July 12, 2016, at Marian Hall in Dubuque, Iowa. Visitation will be from 9–11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, in the Marian Hall Chapel followed by a prayer service at 11 a.m. Funeral liturgy will be at 1:30 p.m. Burial is in the Mount Carmel cemetery.

She was born in Tama, Iowa, on April 2, 1919, to John Philip and Mary Margaret Whalen Hagerty. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1942, from St. Patrick Parish, Tama, Iowa. She professed first vows on March 19, 1945, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1950.

M. Gabrielle taught elementary school and was principal in Sioux City, Manly, Boone, Burlington, Washington, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City, Iowa; and Wichita, Kan.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Jean Doloris Benda and brother John Francis Hagerty. She is survived by a sister Loretta Helen Campbell, Marshalltown, Iowa; a brother Lawrence W. Hagerty, Tama, Iowa; nieces and nephews; and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with whom she shared life for 73 years.

Sister M. Gabrielle Hagerty, BVM
Funeral Welcome
Marian Hall, July 19, 2016

Good afternoon and welcome to the celebration of life of our Sister M. Gabrielle Hagerty.

Mary Gertrude Hagerty was born on April 2, 1919, in Tama, Iowa, the first child of John Philip and Mary Margaret Whalen Hagerty. She was later joined by siblings John, Loretta, Jean and Lawrence.

“My father, John, was a quiet man,” she recalled, “but what he said, he meant . . . We [laughed] because [my mother] was ‘too frail’ to be a religious, yet she raised five children and two sick dogs and lived to within a month of her 99th birthday still lucid!” Since the family lived on a farm, they had enough to eat during the Depression because they either raised or grew it. Her father sold oats to a neighboring cattle farmer and these earnings were used to buy the staples the family could not produce.

Mary Gertrude attended a country school about a mile from her home. Since the family lived eight miles from town, Mary Gertrude stayed in town with her aunt to prepare for First Communion. When the Franciscans Sisters abruptly left Tama, the Sisters of Charity, BVM replaced them and her aunt became their housekeeper. Mary Gertrude commented, “She loved the BVMs and we learned to love them, too. It was as if we had known them all our lives.” Mary Gertrude transferred to the Catholic school in the seventh grade. She attended a normal high school for teacher preparation and then taught first through eighth grades in a country school.

Mary Gertrude felt a calling to the religious life, but dismissed joining the BVMs because she wanted to do missionary work. However, when Sister Mary Ann Esther Mahedy asked her why she didn’t want to be a BVM, she replied, “I don’t think you have enough to do.” Sister Mary Ann Esther simply said, “You’ll find out.” So Mary Gertrude entered the congregation on Sept. 8, 1942, and received the name Gabrielle upon her reception on March 19, 1943. She professed first vows on March 19, 1945, and lived 73 years as a BVM.

Gabrielle was a good and patient teacher who ministered in elementary education for a total of 54 years, 49 as a BVM. She was missioned in Iowa at the Cathedral in Sioux City, Sacred Heart in Manly and in Boone, St. Paul in Burlington, St. Patrick in Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City Catholic Grade School and Regina Elementary in Iowa City, and in Kansas at St. Thomas Aquinas in Wichita. She also served as principal for 21 years in Wichita and in Washington and Burlington, Iowa.

In 1981, Gabrielle discerned a call to pursue professional development in the area of learning disabilities. She wrote, “My choice of program was based on the growing awareness of a need in our schools for personnel with skills, not only in discovering children who have problems, but also in diagnosing and prescribing the techniques designed to help remedy the problems . . . The work has been even more interesting that I had anticipated, and certain aspects of it were very challenging. I have learned something about life and living from the handicapped. I have a greater awareness of their various situations and their common problems, and I have a real appreciation of their courage and spirit.”

Gabrielle was hired as the language and math resource teacher as well as the learning disabilities teacher for Regina Elementary School in Iowa City, Iowa. Later her work focused on students challenged in reading, especially immigrants. She had a sense of fun which carried over into clever ways to motivate her students to read.

She received the 1992 Golden Apple Award given by a local television station to educators for excellence in teaching. The administrators who nominated her wrote, “Sister Gabrielle Hagerty is a crucial component to the vitality of our school. She is highly knowledgeable in the area of children with learning disabilities and children who need something more than the determined curriculum . . . In some schools, there would be three different persons to assume these roles, whereas, Gabrielle accomplishes all these tasks wonderfully.”

After “retiring” in 1994, Gabrielle remained in Iowa City and tutored Regina students during the summers and worked with an adult literacy program. She also enjoyed extended stays with family in Scottsdale, Ariz. She marked 60 years of religious life in 2002 with a celebration at St. Mary Parish in Iowa City where the pastor extolled her virtues saying, “[Gabrielle] has given the gift of herself as teacher, principal, tutor and friend to countless numbers of people who have found in her someone who listens, who cares, and who generously shares the love, patience and kindness of God.”

Gabrielle was a delightful, sweet lady. She was faith-filled, a person of prayer who aged with grace, a person who kept life in perspective and lived it to the fullest. She loved nature and people and was faithful to family, friends and God. She was quick with a smile and a gentle hand, generous, gracious, humble and a good listener.

Gabrielle enjoyed a good time. She celebrated her Irish heritage often, relished her Irish coffee, and had a wonderful time touring Ireland with her sister Loretta. She enjoyed singing in her church choir in Iowa City and with the Mount Carmel Schola. When the distance to the Motherhouse Chapel became too difficult to traverse, she continued to sing with the Schola in the Marian Hall Chapel. She also enjoyed outings to the casino for a good meal and a little gambling, always limiting herself to $20.

We heard this morning in Revelation: “Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord . . . Yes, let them rest from their labors for their deeds accompany them.” Gabrielle’s deeds were as numerous as the lives she touched. She was indeed a woman of hospitality and a great companion on the journey of life. Rest in peace, Gabrielle.

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