Taken at 75th Jubilee 1991

Taumarunui

The Sisters of St Joseph made a foundation in Taumarunui in 1916. A year before her death, Sister Ineen Stack, one of the foundation community, left , some details about the commencement of the Sisters’ work in Taumarunui. On 21 January 1916, Sister Alphonsus Mary Jones and Sister Ineen travelled down to Taumarunui by train from Auckland. Father Forde with some of his parishioners was at the station to meet them. The Sisters were taken to the convent where they were welcomed again by some of the ladies of the parish who had prepared a delicious meal for them. Their convent was already furnished and the Blessed Sacrament reserved in their chapel.

Three Sisters were due to arrive from Sydney – Sisters Francis Karl, Hilarion Lanigan and Leonora Clements, but they could not be in Taumarunui in time for the opening for the school. However, Sister Leonorus Edwards with Sister Inez Fitzgerald (postulant) tested the validity of the recommendation about the half-way stop between Wellington and Auckland: they were on their way to Auckland from the South and stopped off at Taumarunui where they helped in the school until the Sydney contingent arrived.

St Patrick's School opened on 2 February with almost a hundred children, most of whom had never seen a religious Sister before. As the school was not ready, classes had to commence in the church. However, with Father Forde as chief organiser, the people of Taumarunui had their school building under way in a very short time. Before the end of 1917, pupils were transferred to their new classrooms.