Catholic Daughters of the Americas and Ottumwa-area Catholics decorate graves of deceased sisters of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Ottumwa May 23.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
OTTUMWA — On May 23, Ottumwa Catholic Daughters of the Americas (Court Adelaide Proctor #43) placed flowers at the graves of the deceased sisters of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. This cemetery is on the grounds of what was once Ottumwa Heights College, a private Catholic college operated by the sisters until it merged with Indian Hills Community College in 1979. Nine Catholic Daughters and local Catholics — including three children — participated in the service project.
The Catholic Daughters have placed flowers on the sisters’ graves and prayed a rosary for them every Memorial Day for more than 25 years. “We started doing this because of the relationship with the Sisters who taught at Ottumwa Heights College or worked at Saint Joseph High School” in Ottumwa, said Jane Thomas, the court’s outgoing regent. “One of the (seven) spokes of Catholic Daughters is spiritual, so this is how we fill that.” Sister Kevin Bissell, sister of 50-plus year Court Adelaide member Mary Pester, is buried there, she added.
Five Sisters of Humility established a motherhouse in Ottumwa in the late 1800s. The sisters relocated to Davenport around 1983. Approximately 190 sisters are buried at Mt. Olivet.
