Nun to show her Irish pride as grand marshal of Naperville parade

By Susan Dibble

Sister Jeanne Haley, the grand marshal of Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Naperville, will have her own cheering section.

A half-dozen residents from St. Patrick's Residence in Naperville, where Haley is administrator, will ride the home's bus in the parade, followed by the “Nuns on the Run” bed race team with Sister Kimberly atop the bed.

“She likes to have fun. She likes to be out in the community,” said Madelene Bernar, St. Patrick's director of development, who has worked with Haley for nine years. “I think that comes from her Irish side.”

Fun-loving and kind are two words frequently used to describe the nun with Irish roots, who said she was honored to be chosen the grand marshal of the annual parade organized by the West Suburban Irish.

“I was very excited about it,” she said. “This year the parade is honoring people who care for the elderly.”

Haley, who grew up in a very Irish family in Oak Park, has been caring for the elderly since she was a teen volunteer in a Carmelite home in Chicago. She figures her five siblings were glad when she entered the convent at age 19 because on St. Patrick's Day, she used to dye everything from the potatoes to the drinking water green.

“I love Ireland. I love the history of Ireland,” said Haley, whose father's family name was O'Healy and hailed from County Tipperary.

Haley does allow that St. Francis is her favorite saint, but she kept her Irish roots when she joined the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm. The religious community was founded by Mother Angeline Teresa McCrory, who was born in Ireland. McCrory came to New York, where she joined the Little Sisters of the Poor and left years later to form her own order.

Haley said McCrory remains an inspiration.

“She started the community during the Depression so I knew her,” she said. “Hospitality was very important to her.”

So it is for Haley, who welcomes elderly from all races, religious affiliations and financial circumstances into the 210-bed nursing home and rehabilitation facility in Naperville.

“St. Patrick's is for anyone to come here,” she said. “We're a home with a lot of love and a lot of care.”

Haley came to St. Patrick's Residence 12 years ago as assistant administrator and became administrator eight years ago. Her own mother spent the last months of her life there. Haley said the staff cared for her mother as they would other residents, making sure she had the simple comforts she wanted every day, such as a book to read and a CD playing the jazz she loved.

“The staff allowed me to be her daughter. I didn't have to be her caregiver anymore,” she said.

Unexpected calling

Caregiving seemed to come naturally for Haley, who started volunteering at age 14 at the Carmelite home for the aged.

“I always wanted to be a nurse. I didn't have any desire to be a nun,” she recalled.

Haley became a nurse, but she became a nun as well. She said her grandmother, who cared for Haley's mentally disabled sister while Haley's mother taught school, might help explain her attraction to the elderly.

“My grandmother lived with us and was a great example to me,” she said.

After she grew up, she fondly remembers spending St. Patrick's Day with her parents in Irish pubs, where her dad would sing.

“He loved to sing,” she said.

Haley served in Carmelite homes for the elderly in Philadelphia and Iowa before coming to Naperville. She said she is pleased to be part of the community.

“It's a community that has great love and respect for each other,” she said.

Haley welcomes family members and the community residents into St. Patrick's “Come On to Mom's House” party, that took place this past Sunday. The St. Paddy's Day fundraiser includes Irish songs at Mass, raffles and a chance to win a trip to Ireland.

“We usually have around 400 people here,” Haley said. “Anyone not Irish becomes Irish that day.”

The home celebrates New Year's Eve with a party that starts a 10 p.m., a champagne toast at midnight and dancing even for those in wheelchairs. A yellow Labrador named Maggie Carmel, bingo, karaoke and 4 p.m. daily happy hour are all part of the home.

“We have party goers,” Haley said.

Haley, who shares her vocation at St. Patrick's with five other nuns, enjoys a good time herself.

“I'm a great Sox fan,” she said. “We like to go bowling. We like the movies.”

Spiritual vocation

The fun-loving is balanced with a deep sense of vocation, which Haley seeks to impart even to the staff who are not sisters.

“We bless our staff's hands every year,” she said.

“She's just a wonderful person to work with,” Bernar said. “She always tells us we are a team.”

Haley instigated the bed races, originally held during Naper Days and held last year during Naperville's Last Fling, and of which St. Patrick's is now the reigning champ, Bernar said. The current bed pushers are members of the basketball team at Benedictine University in Lisle. During the races, Haley is out rooting for the team wearing her Irish hat, but when the bed pushers didn't win a time or two, Haley consoled them, Bernar said.

“She has such a soft side that is so spiritual. You're almost in awe when she speaks because the words flow so genuinely and so lovingly,” she said. “She's so concerned that residents are treated with respect and dignity.”

Naperville resident Linda Chambo, whose mother, Irma Gamauf, entered St. Patrick's a year ago, said Haley's concern is instilled in the rest of the staff.

“The day we came here, not knowing it, was one of the best days of our lives,” she said. “Sister Jeanne has been very calming — helping me accept this new path we are going on.”

Haley speaks of how much history residents have lived through and of walking them home to God.

“How amazing,” she said. “They're here and then they're with God.”

If you go

What: West Suburban Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade

When: Steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 12

Where: Parade route starts at Naperville North High School, 899 N. Mill St., and proceeds south on Mill, east on Jefferson Avenue, south on Main Street and west on Water Street to end at Naperville city hall.

Info: wsirish.org.