Miracle on the Lake: A F.L.O.W.cast Special

Introduction

On the Feast of the Holy Rosary in 1972, a relaxing island holiday in the Minnesota Boundary Waters brought four Springfield Dominican Sisters to the brink of tragedy. Sister Margaret Grueter and Sister Marie Michelle Hackett share their poignant memories of this heart-racing experience in a special Catholic Sisters Week edition of F.L.O.W.cast.

About our guests

Sister Margaret Grueter and Sister Marie Michelle Hackett are celebrating their profession anniversaries in 2024.

Sister Margaret, a native of Carrollton, Ill., is celebrating 75 years of religious profession and decades of ministry as an educator and pastoral minister.

Sister Marie Michelle, born and raised in Chicago, had, until her election to leadership for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield in 2019, given her entire ministerial life to education as an elementary school teacher and principal. Their life stories intersected in 1968 when Sister Marie Michelle began teaching at St. Michael School, Duluth, Minn., while Sister Margaret had been teaching at the Duluth Cathedral parish, Holy Rosary School, since 1965.

Resources

Mr. and Mrs. Cersine, (Merigo and Ora) in 1974.

 

Read the whole letter written by Sister Pauletta Overbeck shortly after this event took place, HERE

Takeaways

• Miracles happen
• The Holy Spirit is a great intercessor
• Every day of life is a blessing

What happened to the ten sisters who were at White Iron Lake that day?

In the boat:

Sister M. Antoninus (Margaret Grueter)—Celebrating the 75^th anniversary of her profession in 2024. Many years of teaching, pastoral education, and pastoral ministry.

Sister M. Pauletta Overbeck—d. 2018 at the age of 103. Spent many years in elementary education and adult religious education.

Sister Mary Margaret Schnelten—d. 2014. Taught elementary school in the Chicago suburbs after leaving Duluth, left religious life in 1982.

Sister Josephine Mahoney—d. 1985, Taught elementary school in Aurora, Ill., after leaving Duluth.

On shore:

Sister Marie Michelle Hackett—Celebrating 60 years of religious profession in 2024. Many years of elementary school education and administration before her election to leadership for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield in 2019.

Sister Judith Curran—Currently the director of the Dominican Literacy Center in Melrose Park, Ill., Sister Judith spent many years in elementary school education and administration.

Sister M. Kristin Rever—d. January 2024. After leaving Duluth, taught elementary school in the Chicago archdiocese, then studied respiratory therapy and worked in that field at hospitals in Arkansas and Mississippi, also spent many years as a pastoral visitor and parish nurse.

Sister M. Harold Herrmann—d. 2023, Taught in elementary schools and high schools before beginning a role of pastoral presence in underserved communities in Springfield and Metro East St. Louis.

Sister Helen Michael Horne—d. 2022 after many years as a parochial school educator and administrator. Most of her later years were given over to adult religious education in scripture, prayer, and spirituality.

Sister Martha Mary Waldo—d. 1988. The oldest of all the sisters in Duluth, was a music educator at parochial schools in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Michigan as well as Minnesota.