Sister M. Rosaline Tolman, SSND
(née Melba Tolman)
First Profession July 22, 1919
Motherhouse
St. Louis, Missouri
"I was born in Marion, Cassia County, Idaho Sept. 20, 1897. The country then was very unsettled and the land was mostly woods suited principally for sheep grazing and farming. It was primitive times so temporally my father constructed a log cabin until a better dwelling could be completed. It was in this log cabin that I was born.
"I was stricken with spinal meningitis and there was no hope of recovery. My mother obtained the service of a competent physician who received his medical education in Germany. This physician was skilled in handling such cases and saved my life. Wonderful indeed is the Providence of God who had destined me for the religious life. Whether this was a miracle or not I'll leave for my readers to decide, at any rate I think it was a wonderful recovery, and a signal favor from God.
"I had but one sister just two years younger than myself and no brother. When I was five years old my father moved a little farther north to Emmett, in Canyon County, Idaho, where my father purchased a large farm.
"At the age of six I was compelled to attend public school as the nearest Catholic school was thirty miles away. When I was eleven years old my father died and the care of the farm devolved upon my mother. It was too great for her to manage and so it was sold and and my mother purchased a residence within city limits where I continued to attend school. Hardly two years had elapsed when my mother suddenly took ill and died leaving my sister and me orphans. We stayed with a neighbor who lived close by and continued to go to school. The kind lady was almost a second mother to us and had two half sisters in the Notre Dame Order.
"One day the thought came to me suddenly, 'I am going to be a Sister,' neither did I hesitate to say it, although strange to say I had never seen a Catholic Sister except once or twice I happened to see two Sisters visit our city, and the very sight of them made me very happy. I was considered rash and foolish, and was told I didn't know what I was talking about and the like. But I never wavered in my resolution. My Christian education I received at home except the short instruction the priest gave us on Sunday and after my mother's death continued to study my catechism with no one to teach me. I was then seventeen, my one difficulty was to obtain consent from my guardian whom my mother had appointed on her death bed. He would not give his consent so I had to wait until I was of age which I did. I left my home and my only sister Sept. 27, 1915 and entered our Candidature Oct. 6, Feast of our Reverend Mother General Bruno. This day was not selected but like the many other incidents in my life it was Providential. And so I was to become a Notre Dame and had never seen one.
"I was among the happy number for reception Aug. 21, 1917 and pronounced my first vows July 22, 1919 and saw my desire fulfilled July 18, 1923 when our dear Lord blessed me with the grace to seal this holy contract with Him forever. As Candidate I was sent to Valley Park and also returned as a Sister. As I was not well our Rev. Mother Petra of blessed memory sent me to the Sunny South in the hope that I would regain strength, which I did."
(Autobiography of Sister Rosaline, courtesy of Sister Carol Marie Wildt [via ZLD] in the SSND Archives in St. Louis, Missouri.)
Ministry:
1918-1919 St. Mary of Victories, St. Louis, MO
1919-1922 Sacred Heart, Valley Park, MO
1922-1930 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1930-1931 St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis, MO
1931-1932 St. Mary, Alton, IL
1932-1937 St. Gerard Majella, San Antonio, TX
1937-1941 St. Engelbert, St. Louis, MO
1941-1942 St. Anthony, Baton Rouge, LA
1942-1948 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1948-1949 St. Joseph, Conway, AR
1949-1950 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Louis, MO
1950-1954 Our Lady of Perpetual Help. St. Louis, MO
1954-1955 St. Michael, St. Louis, MO
1955-1960 St. Barbara, St. Louis, MO
1960-1962 St. Peter and Paul, St. Louis, MO
1962-1965 St. Charles Borromeo, St. Charles, MO
1965-1970 Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Louis, MO
1970-1972 St. Paul, Highland, IL
1972-1973 Villa Gesu, St. Louis, MO
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
(née Melba Tolman)
First Profession July 22, 1919
Motherhouse
St. Louis, Missouri
"I was born in Marion, Cassia County, Idaho Sept. 20, 1897. The country then was very unsettled and the land was mostly woods suited principally for sheep grazing and farming. It was primitive times so temporally my father constructed a log cabin until a better dwelling could be completed. It was in this log cabin that I was born.
"I was stricken with spinal meningitis and there was no hope of recovery. My mother obtained the service of a competent physician who received his medical education in Germany. This physician was skilled in handling such cases and saved my life. Wonderful indeed is the Providence of God who had destined me for the religious life. Whether this was a miracle or not I'll leave for my readers to decide, at any rate I think it was a wonderful recovery, and a signal favor from God.
"I had but one sister just two years younger than myself and no brother. When I was five years old my father moved a little farther north to Emmett, in Canyon County, Idaho, where my father purchased a large farm.
"At the age of six I was compelled to attend public school as the nearest Catholic school was thirty miles away. When I was eleven years old my father died and the care of the farm devolved upon my mother. It was too great for her to manage and so it was sold and and my mother purchased a residence within city limits where I continued to attend school. Hardly two years had elapsed when my mother suddenly took ill and died leaving my sister and me orphans. We stayed with a neighbor who lived close by and continued to go to school. The kind lady was almost a second mother to us and had two half sisters in the Notre Dame Order.
"One day the thought came to me suddenly, 'I am going to be a Sister,' neither did I hesitate to say it, although strange to say I had never seen a Catholic Sister except once or twice I happened to see two Sisters visit our city, and the very sight of them made me very happy. I was considered rash and foolish, and was told I didn't know what I was talking about and the like. But I never wavered in my resolution. My Christian education I received at home except the short instruction the priest gave us on Sunday and after my mother's death continued to study my catechism with no one to teach me. I was then seventeen, my one difficulty was to obtain consent from my guardian whom my mother had appointed on her death bed. He would not give his consent so I had to wait until I was of age which I did. I left my home and my only sister Sept. 27, 1915 and entered our Candidature Oct. 6, Feast of our Reverend Mother General Bruno. This day was not selected but like the many other incidents in my life it was Providential. And so I was to become a Notre Dame and had never seen one.
"I was among the happy number for reception Aug. 21, 1917 and pronounced my first vows July 22, 1919 and saw my desire fulfilled July 18, 1923 when our dear Lord blessed me with the grace to seal this holy contract with Him forever. As Candidate I was sent to Valley Park and also returned as a Sister. As I was not well our Rev. Mother Petra of blessed memory sent me to the Sunny South in the hope that I would regain strength, which I did."
(Autobiography of Sister Rosaline, courtesy of Sister Carol Marie Wildt [via ZLD] in the SSND Archives in St. Louis, Missouri.)
Ministry:
1918-1919 St. Mary of Victories, St. Louis, MO
1919-1922 Sacred Heart, Valley Park, MO
1922-1930 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1930-1931 St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis, MO
1931-1932 St. Mary, Alton, IL
1932-1937 St. Gerard Majella, San Antonio, TX
1937-1941 St. Engelbert, St. Louis, MO
1941-1942 St. Anthony, Baton Rouge, LA
1942-1948 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1948-1949 St. Joseph, Conway, AR
1949-1950 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Louis, MO
1950-1954 Our Lady of Perpetual Help. St. Louis, MO
1954-1955 St. Michael, St. Louis, MO
1955-1960 St. Barbara, St. Louis, MO
1960-1962 St. Peter and Paul, St. Louis, MO
1962-1965 St. Charles Borromeo, St. Charles, MO
1965-1970 Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Louis, MO
1970-1972 St. Paul, Highland, IL
1972-1973 Villa Gesu, St. Louis, MO
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
Sister M. Rosaline Tolman, SSND
(née Melba Tolman)
First Profession July 22, 1919
Motherhouse
St. Louis, Missouri
"I was born in Marion, Cassia County, Idaho Sept. 20, 1897. The country then was very unsettled and the land was mostly woods suited principally for sheep grazing and farming. It was primitive times so temporally my father constructed a log cabin until a better dwelling could be completed. It was in this log cabin that I was born.
"I was stricken with spinal meningitis and there was no hope of recovery. My mother obtained the service of a competent physician who received his medical education in Germany. This physician was skilled in handling such cases and saved my life. Wonderful indeed is the Providence of God who had destined me for the religious life. Whether this was a miracle or not I'll leave for my readers to decide, at any rate I think it was a wonderful recovery, and a signal favor from God.
"I had but one sister just two years younger than myself and no brother. When I was five years old my father moved a little farther north to Emmett, in Canyon County, Idaho, where my father purchased a large farm.
"At the age of six I was compelled to attend public school as the nearest Catholic school was thirty miles away. When I was eleven years old my father died and the care of the farm devolved upon my mother. It was too great for her to manage and so it was sold and and my mother purchased a residence within city limits where I continued to attend school. Hardly two years had elapsed when my mother suddenly took ill and died leaving my sister and me orphans. We stayed with a neighbor who lived close by and continued to go to school. The kind lady was almost a second mother to us and had two half sisters in the Notre Dame Order.
"One day the thought came to me suddenly, 'I am going to be a Sister,' neither did I hesitate to say it, although strange to say I had never seen a Catholic Sister except once or twice I happened to see two Sisters visit our city, and the very sight of them made me very happy. I was considered rash and foolish, and was told I didn't know what I was talking about and the like. But I never wavered in my resolution. My Christian education I received at home except the short instruction the priest gave us on Sunday and after my mother's death continued to study my catechism with no one to teach me. I was then seventeen, my one difficulty was to obtain consent from my guardian whom my mother had appointed on her death bed. He would not give his consent so I had to wait until I was of age which I did. I left my home and my only sister Sept. 27, 1915 and entered our Candidature Oct. 6, Feast of our Reverend Mother General Bruno. This day was not selected but like the many other incidents in my life it was Providential. And so I was to become a Notre Dame and had never seen one.
"I was among the happy number for reception Aug. 21, 1917 and pronounced my first vows July 22, 1919 and saw my desire fulfilled July 18, 1923 when our dear Lord blessed me with the grace to seal this holy contract with Him forever. As Candidate I was sent to Valley Park and also returned as a Sister. As I was not well our Rev. Mother Petra of blessed memory sent me to the Sunny South in the hope that I would regain strength, which I did."
(Autobiography of Sister Rosaline, courtesy of Sister Carol Marie Wildt [via ZLD] in the SSND Archives in St. Louis, Missouri.)
Ministry:
1918-1919 St. Mary of Victories, St. Louis, MO
1919-1922 Sacred Heart, Valley Park, MO
1922-1930 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1930-1931 St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis, MO
1931-1932 St. Mary, Alton, IL
1932-1937 St. Gerard Majella, San Antonio, TX
1937-1941 St. Engelbert, St. Louis, MO
1941-1942 St. Anthony, Baton Rouge, LA
1942-1948 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1948-1949 St. Joseph, Conway, AR
1949-1950 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Louis, MO
1950-1954 Our Lady of Perpetual Help. St. Louis, MO
1954-1955 St. Michael, St. Louis, MO
1955-1960 St. Barbara, St. Louis, MO
1960-1962 St. Peter and Paul, St. Louis, MO
1962-1965 St. Charles Borromeo, St. Charles, MO
1965-1970 Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Louis, MO
1970-1972 St. Paul, Highland, IL
1972-1973 Villa Gesu, St. Louis, MO
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
(née Melba Tolman)
First Profession July 22, 1919
Motherhouse
St. Louis, Missouri
"I was born in Marion, Cassia County, Idaho Sept. 20, 1897. The country then was very unsettled and the land was mostly woods suited principally for sheep grazing and farming. It was primitive times so temporally my father constructed a log cabin until a better dwelling could be completed. It was in this log cabin that I was born.
"I was stricken with spinal meningitis and there was no hope of recovery. My mother obtained the service of a competent physician who received his medical education in Germany. This physician was skilled in handling such cases and saved my life. Wonderful indeed is the Providence of God who had destined me for the religious life. Whether this was a miracle or not I'll leave for my readers to decide, at any rate I think it was a wonderful recovery, and a signal favor from God.
"I had but one sister just two years younger than myself and no brother. When I was five years old my father moved a little farther north to Emmett, in Canyon County, Idaho, where my father purchased a large farm.
"At the age of six I was compelled to attend public school as the nearest Catholic school was thirty miles away. When I was eleven years old my father died and the care of the farm devolved upon my mother. It was too great for her to manage and so it was sold and and my mother purchased a residence within city limits where I continued to attend school. Hardly two years had elapsed when my mother suddenly took ill and died leaving my sister and me orphans. We stayed with a neighbor who lived close by and continued to go to school. The kind lady was almost a second mother to us and had two half sisters in the Notre Dame Order.
"One day the thought came to me suddenly, 'I am going to be a Sister,' neither did I hesitate to say it, although strange to say I had never seen a Catholic Sister except once or twice I happened to see two Sisters visit our city, and the very sight of them made me very happy. I was considered rash and foolish, and was told I didn't know what I was talking about and the like. But I never wavered in my resolution. My Christian education I received at home except the short instruction the priest gave us on Sunday and after my mother's death continued to study my catechism with no one to teach me. I was then seventeen, my one difficulty was to obtain consent from my guardian whom my mother had appointed on her death bed. He would not give his consent so I had to wait until I was of age which I did. I left my home and my only sister Sept. 27, 1915 and entered our Candidature Oct. 6, Feast of our Reverend Mother General Bruno. This day was not selected but like the many other incidents in my life it was Providential. And so I was to become a Notre Dame and had never seen one.
"I was among the happy number for reception Aug. 21, 1917 and pronounced my first vows July 22, 1919 and saw my desire fulfilled July 18, 1923 when our dear Lord blessed me with the grace to seal this holy contract with Him forever. As Candidate I was sent to Valley Park and also returned as a Sister. As I was not well our Rev. Mother Petra of blessed memory sent me to the Sunny South in the hope that I would regain strength, which I did."
(Autobiography of Sister Rosaline, courtesy of Sister Carol Marie Wildt [via ZLD] in the SSND Archives in St. Louis, Missouri.)
Ministry:
1918-1919 St. Mary of Victories, St. Louis, MO
1919-1922 Sacred Heart, Valley Park, MO
1922-1930 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1930-1931 St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis, MO
1931-1932 St. Mary, Alton, IL
1932-1937 St. Gerard Majella, San Antonio, TX
1937-1941 St. Engelbert, St. Louis, MO
1941-1942 St. Anthony, Baton Rouge, LA
1942-1948 Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Orleans, LA
1948-1949 St. Joseph, Conway, AR
1949-1950 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Louis, MO
1950-1954 Our Lady of Perpetual Help. St. Louis, MO
1954-1955 St. Michael, St. Louis, MO
1955-1960 St. Barbara, St. Louis, MO
1960-1962 St. Peter and Paul, St. Louis, MO
1962-1965 St. Charles Borromeo, St. Charles, MO
1965-1970 Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Louis, MO
1970-1972 St. Paul, Highland, IL
1972-1973 Villa Gesu, St. Louis, MO
(School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis Province)
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
Gravesite Details
Villa Gesu Cemetery, Saint Ferdinand, Missouri, was closed in 1998. In 2002 the remains of the 752 SSNDs buried there were moved to Resurrection Cemetery.
Family Members
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