Sister recalls strong bond at St. Augustine’s Convent
Sister Eleanor Clancy
As South Boston NDC makes progress on transforming the former St. Augustine's Convent into McDevitt Senior Homes, we'll be doing periodic stories about the building and the Sisters of Notre Dame who lived there.
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The camaraderie among the Sisters of Notre Dame at the St. Augustine’s Convent is a memory that sticks with Sister Eleanor Clancy … from dinners around the table to discuss their day and cookouts on the roof to gathering in the community room at night.
As South Boston NDC prepares to transform the convent into affordable senior housing, we sought out former residents of the building to share their experiences.
Sister Eleanor, who turns 84 this month, lived in the building on E Street from 1982-1995. She thinks it’s great that South Boston NDC is converting the building to affordable senior housing.
Sister Eleanor’s favorite places in the convent were her room and the chapel. “Sometimes I’d go up to my room and just sit down and be quiet.”
Her room was in the back on the third floor in a corner. “Mine wasn't as big, the corner ones were smaller, but it was big enough … a bed, a bureau, an easy chair, and a desk,” she said.
The dining room was on the first floor along with the laundry room. On the second floor was the chapel and a big community room with a TV “so a lot of us would congregate up there at night.”
The third and fourth floors were the bedrooms.
Sister Eleanor didn’t like to put her clothes in the dryer, so after washing them, she’d take the elevator (when it worked) up to the roof of the convent and hang her clothes on the clothesline to air dry. While she was there, the solarium was not yet constructed.
One place that wasn’t used much was the front yard. “I don’t think we even used the front door; we used to go around the back,” Sister Eleanor said.
During her time at St. Augustine’s, Sister Eleanor was a first-grade teacher at St. Ambrose School for five years, then at Gate of Heaven for 23 years through the year the school merged with St. Brigid. She taught for a total of 50 years.
When she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame, it was a teaching order.
Sister Eleanor, originally from Woburn, had the Sisters of Notre Dame as teachers for her 12 years of schooling and at the time hoped one day she could be a part of that. “I think it was the sisters themselves … I could see how happy they were and how joyful … I was just drawn to it,” she said.
This September, Sister Eleanor will celebrate 67 years in the SND community. “I would do it all over again,” she said.
After her teaching career, Sister Eleanor volunteered at Julie’s Family Learning Program for 11 years and she currently does volunteer work three days a week.
“I can’t sit and do nothing,” she said. “My motto is stay active and independent as long as you can.”
And that was true during her time at the convent. She was out the door early in the morning to go to school and came back late in the afternoon. “And then we’d have supper together and we’d be talking about different things because everyone was doing something kind of different.”
With a cook no longer at the convent, the sisters took turns cooking and shopping. Because there were a lot of sisters living there, they only had to cook every couple of weeks. Sister Eleanor remembers making meatloaf, salad, and other things.
The sisters also had chores, or what they called charges. Those rotating jobs included cleaning the dining room, dusting and cleaning the community room. Sister Eleanor recalled having to clean the stairs and hallways.
The sisters held community Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, but they were usually not on the actual holidays “because we’d go home to our families.”
After a few moves, Sister Eleanor has lived in South Boston NDC’s 376 West Fourth Street senior apartments since 2011 and loves it. “I get out and do my thing. I get out and walk a lot.”