Sister Mary Judith Spatt
Born to earthly life: March 13, 1907
Religious profession: July 23, 1931
Entered eternal Life: October 4, 2010
Anna Spatt was born to her parents, Martha and Francis, early in the last century on March 13, 1909, in Cleveland, Ohio, as the second child of seven. Her parents had emigrated from a small town in Bavaria to the United States, settling in Ohio, and then moving to Detroit, Michigan.
That change altered the course of Anna’s life. The young girl spent her first four school years at St. Anthony’s, the place of her initial contact with the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She finished her education at public schools, the last of which was at Henneman Center, where she took business courses in the morning and worked in an office in the afternoon.
When the three years at home requested by her mother came to an end, Anna freely left home for the convent. She writes: “We lived in a very happy home. My parents made things very nice and pleasant for us, and we did many things in a loving spirit.”
Of her reception on August 6, 1929, she writes, “I was numbered among the happy ones to receive the holy habit and the crown of roses and lilies, and entered the happy portals of the novitiate, where I spent a year of joy and happiness in preparation for my religious life.”
Sister Judith (the name given her at reception) spent her entire life as a homemaker, but sometimes stepped into the classroom as an emergency substitute. She never seemed to have a problem with children.
In the days when SSNDs couldn’t shop in stores, she would ask the school children to shop for her. They vied with one another to be chosen because they knew there would cookies for their pay when they returned. She welcomed the sisters into the kitchen after school to relax and share their classroom day. The sisters could help themselves to anything in the fridge except the food she had prepared for next morning’s breakfast. “If you eat it at night,” she would tell them, “you just won’t have it for breakfast.”
After 80 years of active service as cook (and seamstress, housekeeper, parish visitor, or assistant at a day care center), Sister Judith retired to NDEG. Memories of her life of service receded. As a centenarian, she felt that life wasn’t fun anymore. “Why is God keeping me here so long?” she would ask. Sisters stopping to chat assured her that, by praying for them and amusing them with her short, funny come-backs, she meant a lot to the community.
Sister Judith’s life ended much like the whole of it — nothing dramatic, from her point of view. One night she went to sleep peacefully. When the resident assistant later stopped by to check on her, Sister Judith had taken off for God. Hers was now “a safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at last.”
– Sister Francele Sherburne
Sister Judith served as a homemaker for almost 70 years. In addition to her roles with sewing, cooking and housekeeping, in later years, she visited the sick, elderly, and homebound and worked as a child care provider and general volunteer. When she retired to the Notre Dame of Elm Grove Community in 1997, she continued to serve through her prayers and presence.
Sister Judith’s ministry locations included:
- St. Paul, Chicago, Ill.
- Motherhouse, Milwaukee, Wis.
- St. Vincent, Oshkosh, Wis.
- St. Joseph Orphanage, Green Bay, Wis.
- Holy Angels, Gary, Ind.
- St. Mary, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- St. James, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- St. Anthony, Detroit, Mich.
- Sacred Heart, Grosse Ile, Mich.
- St. Mary, Detroit, Mich.
- Holy Childhood, Harbor Springs, Mich.
- St. Isidore, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Notre Dame of Elm Grove, Elm Grove, Wis.
Sister Mary Judith Spatt died at Notre Dame of Elm Grove on October 4, 2010 at the age of 103. Survived by her brother Rev. John Spatt, CPPS, sister Margaret Tremblay, niece, nephew, other relatives, friends and the SSND Community. A Wake Service and Mass of Christian Burial were celebrated October 8 at Holy Family Chapel, Notre Dame of Elm Grove, 13105 Watertown Plank Road. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the School Sisters of Notre Dame Retirement Fund is appreciated.
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