Grace is the daughter of
Joseph George Letcher
and his wife Ida May Ketchum,
of Naperville, DuPage Co. Illinois,
and later, of
Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
She was the eldest of five children.
-------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
-------------------------------
She was baptized as Mary Grace Agnes
Letcher, on Aug. 1, 1908 at
the Sts. Peter and Paul (Catholic)
Church in Naperville, Illinois.
The sponsors (Godparents) at her baptism
were Alois Letcher (Joseph's brother),
and Mary Cecilia Letcher (Joseph's sister).
-------------------------------
Note: The church records also show that
Grace was born on July 20, 1908,
(NOT on July 30, 1908, as is printed
in her obituary, and on her death
certificate).
-------------------------------
Grace graduated from Buchanan High
School in Buchanan, Michigan.
She was the Valedictorian of her
graduating Class of 1926.
(Nice picture of her in the yearbook).
-------------------------------
Grace attended Western Michigan College,
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
----
Grace received her teaching certificate
(a "life" certificate), from
"Western Michigan College of Education"
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
(per: List of School Officiers and
Teachers in Berrien County Schools
1944-1945).
---------------------------------
Grace played the organ for church
services at St. Anthony's Catholic
Church in Buchanan, Michigan of
which she and her family were members.
-------------------------------
For many years, Grace was a school
teacher in Buchanan area schools
in Berrien County Michigan.
------------------------------
An article written by Grace Letcher,
(titled "Romancy Skits"), was published
in the "Berrien County Record" newspaper,
in Buchanan, Michigan, on Thursday,
May 14, 1931, page 8. (This article
is about her views of politics in
Berrien County).
-------------------------------
In 1953, at the age of 45,
Grace became a Catholic Nun
and received the name of
"Sister Mary Joseph".
-------------------------------
Grace wanted to stay a Catholic Nun,
but she was released from the Monastery
because of poor health (per her family).
-------------------------------
The following article was published
in "The News-Palladium" newspaper,
in Benton Harbor, Michigan, on
Dec. 21, 1953:
----------------
Miss Grace Letcher, Formerly of
Buchanan, Takes Habit of Nun.
Buchanan, Dec. 21 - In an impressive ceremony held Thursday, Dec. 10, [1953], at the Sacramentine Monastery of Perpetual Adoration and of Our Lady, Miss Grace Letcher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Letcher, Sr., Buchanan, received the habit of the Sacramentine Sisters of Petoskey, Mich. She received the name of Sister Mary Joseph and became a cloistered choir nun.
The Rev. Fr. William A. Cogley of Morrice, Mich., was the celebrant of the mass. Rev. Fr. Hugollnus Kiener, G. F. M. of Petoskey preached the sermon. Rev. Clement Sigmund, the bishop's delegate, presided at the ceremony. Before entering religon, Miss Letcher taught in the public schools in Berrien county. She attended Western Michigan college, Kalamazoo. The principal work of the Sacramentine order is perpetual adoration of the blessed Sacrament and the giving of women's retreats. Also taking the veil at this ceremony was Miss Mary Alice Wellington, Mackinac, Mich., who became Sister Anne Marie, an extern sister. Attending the ceremony from Buchanan were Miss Letcher's mother, Mrs. Joseph [Ida May] Letcher Sr., Mrs. Alois [Alice] Letcher, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. [and Doris] Letcher and [Harvey's daughter] Miss Janet Letcher, they were accompanied by [Grace's sister] Mrs. John [Lillian] Vaselin and daughter [Anita], Gary, Ind., and Mrs. Leo McCarten, Lakeside, Mich.
-------------------------------
After Grace was released from the Monastery,
Grace later suffered a stroke while
teaching in a Catholic parochial
school in Cadillac, Michigan. She
was transferred from the Mercy Hospital,
in Cadillac, MI, to the Pawating Hospital,
in Niles, Berrien County Michigan, near
her home, where she died (unmarried), at
the age of 50.
--------------------------------
The obituary for Grace M. Letcher
was published in the "Niles Daily Star"
newspaper in Niles, MI. on
Feb. 13, 1959, page 2:
----------------
MISS GRACE M. LETCHER.
Buchanan - Miss Grace M. Letcher,
50, of Buchanan, [MI], who has been
teaching school at Cadillac, [MI]
since last September, died at
11:45 p.m. Thursday in Pawating
Hospital where she had been
transferred from Mercy Hospital,
Cadillac [MI]. She was admitted
Monday evening to the Cadillic
hospital after suffering a stroke.
Miss Letcher, who for many years
taught in Berrien County schools,
was born July 30 [should say July "20"],
1908, in Naperville, Ill., and came
to Buchanan, [MI] with her parents
when she was a child [in 1912].
She was a member of St. Anthony
Roman Catholic Church here.
Surviving are: her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph G. Letcher, Sr., of
Main Street Road, Buchanan [MI]:
three brothers, Harvey J. and
Robert E. Letcher, both of Buchanan,
[MI] and Joseph G. Letcher, Jr., of
South Bend, [IN], and a sister, Mrs.
Lillian Vasilin [Vaselin], of South Bend,
[IN]. Funeral services will be held
at 9 a.m. Monday [Feb. 16] in
St. Anthony Church with the pastor,
the Rev. Frank Jansen, officiating.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge
Cemetery. The Rosary will be said at
8:30 p.m. Sunday in the Swem Funeral
Home where friends may call after
7 p.m. today.
-------------------------------
Grace is buried next to her parents,
in Section D, Lot 194.
-------------------------------
Click on photos to see enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
-------------------------------