Taumarunui continued

The people of Taumarunui took the Sisters to their hearts in a lasting affection and loyalty. A wonderful spirit of mutual co-operation developed over the years between the children and their teachers, a spirit that has endured, so that Sisters speak of the “Tammy” children as having a spirit all their own.

Tragedy struck the community of St Joseph’s Day of the first year of the new foundation. Sister Leonora Clements, a recently professed Sister, was drowned in the Wanganui River alongside which the Sisters were picnicking. This sad happening brought much sorrow to the Sisters and the whole parish.

The “zig-zag” connecting Rangaroa Hill with the township features prominently in many of the stories connected with St Patrick’s School. Each generation of Taumarunui convent school pupils had settled its scores on the “zig-zag”. There were plenty of twists and turns made to order for ambushes, and lots of slippery slides down the banks where a mere push could clear the path of one’s enemies and send them flying down the slopes. Taumarunui school history would be without half its flavour deprived of its stories of zig-zag skirmishes!

The Sisters of St Joseph currently a have a presence in Taumarunui. Sister Rita Cahill is a member of the Parish network.

Acknowledgement:  The New Zealand Story 1883 - 1997

                                   Sister Anne Marie Power rsj