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In spite of Mother Kathleen’s
deep involvement in several other property projects, as was
seen in the foregoing, she did not hesitate to respond to yet
another large endeavor. On January 6, 1959, J. Peter Grace,
Jr. of Manhasset, New York offered the Congregation a gift of
land and buildings adjacent to his estate. Mr. Grace was head
of W. R. Grace and Company, which owned a fleet of thirty-five
ships; chemical plants in Canada, Europe and Australia; the
Grace National Bank of New York; oil drilling in Libya; and
other business ventures.
He intended to purchase the fifty-one acre Cornelius F. Kelly
estate adjoining his own, and offered to the Congregation the
large, French provincial home and six acres of land surrounding
it. Additionally, this included a caretaker’s building,
stables, and an outdoor pool. The first floor of the chateau
had eight large rooms, including a magnificent library, sun
parlor patio, and a ballroom that was subsequently converted
to the chapel. The second floor had eight large bedrooms and
five bathrooms. The basement boasted an English taproom, game
room, and powder room. Six bedrooms, two baths, a dining and
a sitting room were once the quarters of servants. A few hundred
feet from the main house was a ten-car garage and two five-room
apartments, in addition to the guesthouse and pool mentioned
above. (51)
Seeing many potential uses for this property as a place for
spiritual renovation for professed sisters, as a temporary solution
to the space needs of the postulants and junior professed sisters,
and a possible future provincial house, if required by Rome,
Mother Kathleen, nine days after Mr. Grace’s offer, sent
a letter to Bishop Hannan seeking his permission to accept.
Five days later, on January 20, 1959, Bishop Hannan’s
affirmative reply arrived. (52) On February 1, 1959, approval
of the council was recorded. (53) Thus Our Lady of Grace Convent
became a reality.
Since the Congregation was not yet a papal institute, in addition
to the foregoing actions, there were approvals required from
the apostolic delegate and from Bishop P. Kellenberg of the
Rockville Centre Diocese in which the property was located.
There was also a need to inform Reverend John K. Sharp, St.
Mary Parish, Manhasset, and pastor of the nearest local parish.
The council minutes of March 15, 1959 note the approval of Bishop
Kellenberg, subsequent to Mother Kathleen’s personal visit
to him at St. Agnes Cathedral Rectory in Rockville Centre, New
York on February 18, 1959. (54) It was a difficult decision
for Bishop Kellenberg, since his policy restricted acquisition
of tax-exempt property to religious communities in his diocese.
He made it clear that the exception in this case was because
of “the long and splendid record of I.H.M.’s in
the Rockville Centre Diocese.” He was referring to the
fact that the IHM Sisters had served at St. Dominic, Oyster
Bay, since 1924; at St. Peter, Port Washington since 1925; and
St. Mary, Manhasset since 1926.
Even with Bishop Kellenberg’s approval, there were still
several hurdles to overcome. Both the town of North Hempstead
and the Village of North Hills had tax exemption policies and
zoning laws that applied to use of the property. Since North
Hills’ zoning law restricted use to “single family
dwelling purposes,” the legal issue became whether the
sisters would constitute a “family.” Since no definition
was given in the law, Attorney J. Oakey McKnight of Mineola,
New York, rendered this opinion that solved the zoning question:
. . . if the Ordinance did not restrict by definition the
use and occupancy to members of a single family related with
degrees of consanguinity or affinity,” then the Sisters
could be considered a family. (55)
The right to tax exemption on the property was obtained from
the town of North Hempstead, the Village of North Hills and
the School District of Nassau County during April 1959. This
was a considerable concession since the property’s replacement
value had been appraised at $800,000.
In all these matters Mother Kathleen was astute–working
with lawyers, businessmen, and bishops. She also had a homey,
simple way of endearing herself to those whose help she needed.
She became friends with Mrs. Grace (Margaret), the wife of Peter
Grace and mother of eight children who attended St. Mary School
in Manhasset where the IHM Sisters taught. Mr. Grace was a strong
supporter of parochial school education, although he himself
attended public schools. His sentiments were expressed in these
words:
I came to feel that I had missed something . . . a religious
education seems to me more important than ever today, in the
face of the empty materialism that prevails in so much of
the world. So I decided to send my own children to parochial
schools. (56)
Sister Paul Joseph McArdle, IHM, principal of St. Mary High
School in Manhasset, played a key role in cultivating Mother
Kathleen’s interest in the Grace property. She could see
opportunities for the Congregation’s presence there, as
well as the value of the gift itself.
Mrs. Grace became a strong intermediary contact between Mother
Kathleen and Peter Grace who was frequently out of the country
on business. It was Mrs. Grace who guided the first tour of
the Kelly estate for Mother Kathleen and three council members
on January 15, 1959, and who opened her home for subsequent
meetings with legal representatives regarding the Kelly estate.
By April 20, 1959, the chief attorney for Peter Grace, Mr. John
J. Meehan of Forest Hills, New York, submitted a proposal for
the conveyance of the property to the IHM Congregation. The
council approved these arrangements on May 8, 1959, and Bishop
Hannan also approved in a letter dated May 15, 1959. (57)
So it was that within a five-month period a host of legal requirements
had been met, approvals by Church and civil authorities obtained,
and the deed and title delivered by Mr. Grace to Mother Kathleen.
Plans began at once for occupying the main house in late June
1959. Sisters from nearby IHM convents gave many hours to the
task of readying the house. The summer of 1959 was already scheduled
for a Spiritual Renovation Program for two groups of “fourteen
to eighteen years professed Sisters,” about thirty-five
sisters in each group for July and August.
Sister Maria Angela Orr was appointed first superior of Our
Lady of Grace Convent and Sister Clotilde Cullen, mistress of
renovation. Sisters Ignatius Brown, Norbert (Marlyn) DeWitt,
and Mariam Pfeifer were assigned to assist during the July renovation
program. In August, the four replacement helpers were Sisters
Roselda (Roberta) Peters, St. Leo (Joanne) Madden, Sharon Brady,
and Mary Faber (Mary Helen) Slavinskas. (58)
Mother Kathleen, together with Sister St. Mary and Sister Beata,
was present to welcome the renovants. The interest of Mother
Kathleen in the renovation of the sisters continued as a priority,
and she found great joy in knowing that the Congregation now
had an appropriate, spacious center for the physical and spiritual
renewal of the sisters.
In order to ease the space problems at the motherhouse, Mother
Kathleen obtained Bishop Hannan’s permission for the forty-five
postulants who had entered in September 1959 to complete their
postulancy at Our Lady of Grace Convent. On December 10, the
forty-five, along with their directress, Sister Gertrude Marie
Jelley, left from Marywood by Greyhound bus, arriving at their
new home in the early afternoon. Sisters Maria Angela Orr, Kotska
Sick and Charles Marie Meehan welcomed them. Mother Kathleen
had selected four excellent guides for the postulants’
introduction to religious life in the IHM tradition and spirit.
(59)
By May 20, 1960, the first group of postulants returned to Marywood.
Their departure signaled the restart of the cycle of June and
August renovation arrivals, followed by the December 29 arrival
of the second group of postulants. This scheduling would continue
until the opening of the new novitiate building in May 1962.
The Congregation is indebted not only to Mr. and Mrs. Peter
Grace for their initial gift of this property and their on-going
interest and support of it, but also to the hundreds of women
who were members of the IHM League over the years. These women
made possible many equipment replacements and beautified the
interior by their gifts of furniture, lamps, pictures, drapes,
and other household items. The families of many IHM Sisters
were also generous donors to Our Lady of Grace Convent.
References:
51. Mr. J. Peter Grace. Letter to Mother Kathleen, January 6,
1959.
52. Mother Kathleen Hart. Letter to Bishop Jerome D. Hannan,
January 15, 1959.
53. General Council Minutes, February 1, 1959.
54. General Council Minutes, March 15, 1959.
55. Attorney Oakey McKnight. Letter to Dr. Robert Boggs, New
York City, NY, March 13, 1959.
56. The Sign Magazine, March 1958.
57. General Council Minutes, May 8, 1959.
58. Annals of Our Lady of Grace Convent, 1959.
59. Ibid., 1959
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