Heritage Society Began Connection to Sisters during High School Days
Catherine Rock, a member of the Heritage Society, has had an almost life-time connection to the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She met the Sisters during her junior year of high school as a boarder at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"My father was a golf pro," she explained. While the family lived in New Jersey, her father spent winters in Florida as a professional golfer and wanted her to live in Florida as well. She especially remembers Sister Rose Brennan, her Latin teacher, who, along with other Sisters, had a "big impact on my decision to enter the Adrian Dominican Congregation."
Catherine entered in June 1961 after graduating from Rosarian Academy and was assigned to teach at two schools in Chicago: St. Mary of Mt. Carmel and St. Denis. In 1967, while still teaching at St. Denis, Catherine was asked to be part of a documentary, The Inquiring Nuns. She - then Sister Mary Campion - and Sister Marie Arné, in habit, visited various sites in Chicago, asking passersby if they were happy. "Everyone was warm and receptive," she recalled. "Most said what would make them happier was the end of the Viet Nam War," but many also spoke about religion and what it meant to them.
Her involvement in the 66-minute documentary led to her meeting her future husband, then Father David Rock, who was looking for movies that his high school students could discuss in class. The two met in 1967 and married in November 1969.
"I was taught to be an educator by the Adrian Dominican Sisters and I went on to teach for 16 years and to be a school administrator for 16 years," Catherine said. In their early years of marriage, while living in Wisconsin, the couple had three children. They later moved to New Jersey, where Catherine ultimately became Superintendent of Schools. Today they reside in Orlando, Florida.
Catherine still keeps in touch with Sisters she lived with and exchanges Christmas cards with Sister Marianne Supan and Carol Fowler, now an Associate. She and David have found travel difficult lately because of David's stroke in 2006, but Catherine still enjoys staying in touch with the Sisters.
"I am grateful to the Adrian Dominican Sisters," Catherine said. "Because I met them when I was only 15, they helped form my charitable values and my outreach to help others - otherwise I wouldn't have entered the convent. Both my husband and I feel we owe a great debt to the communities of Sisters who educated us."
Catherine also feels strongly about helping the retired Sisters. "So many of us have left the Congregation, and now that we're retired, I feel strongly that we need to make some donations for the Sisters who are retired," she said. "We want them to have a comfortable life."
As a member of the Heritage Society, Catherine will continue to make a donation to the Adrian Dominican Sisters after her death. Heritage Society members can choose from a number of planned giving options: wills, charitable bequests, or insurance policies. Through planned giving, Heritage Society members continue to make a difference long after they have left this world for the next. For information about the Heritage Society, contact Amy Palmer, Director of Development, at 517-266-3480 or [email protected] .
