Sister Noreen Burke, OP 1932-2021

When Precious Blood Parish on Detroit’s northwest side was still new, among its earliest members were the Burke family: Peter and Marjorie (Reske) and, over time, four children: Don, Larry, Noreen, and Carole.

Peter and Marjorie could not have grown up in more different circumstances from each other. Peter was born into a family of six boys, raised by their mother alone after his father died early of heart disease. Bridget, Peter’s mother, “ran a lively and mischievous household. Apparently, no prank was too much trouble as long as she kept everyone laughing and enjoying life.”

Marjorie, on the other hand, was orphaned at age five and originally sent with her sister to an orphanage while her younger brothers were raised by her four aunts. Eventually, “the Aunts,” as they became collective known in family lore, brought the girls home too and raised all the children in a loving but “Puritanical” home. “Imagine poor Marjorie’s terror when Peter was courting her, and brought her into the boisterous Burke clan!” Sister Noreen wrote.

Noreen, named after Marjorie’s sister, was born on July 17, 1932. With two boys already in the family, her birth delighted her parents and older brothers alike. And, Sister Noreen wrote in her autobiography, her parents decided that now the family was complete – except that as she got older, she often told her mother and father that she wished she had a baby sister and, when she was six, “since God’s ways are not ours,” she got her wish when Carole came along.

“Now the family was complete, and we grew up in a secure and happy home in Precious Blood Parish, where my parents were involved in the many activities of this new parish,” she wrote.

All the Burke children were educated at Precious Blood School by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, who gave them solid educations. In her autobiography Noreen related the story of Larry’s first day at Catholic Central High School, when he began writing out an English assignment before the brother teaching the class had even finished explaining it. The brother came over to Larry’s desk, picked up his paper, saw that it was correctly done, and said, “Well, Burke, you must be from Precious Blood and Sister Marie Raymond [Mossing]’s class.”

High school for Noreen came at Visitation, where again her teachers were Adrian Dominican Sisters. She was not especially drawn to religious life, but when one of her teachers asked if she had ever considered becoming a nun, she was intrigued enough that before graduation she and her parents paid a visit to Adrian.

That was all it took – although on the way to the Motherhouse on entrance day, June 25, 1950, Noreen had a change of heart and asked her father to turn the car around, only to have her mother tell her that she’d stayed up nights sewing Noreen’s postulant outfits and that Noreen was to “give it a try.”

She became a novice that December, receiving the religious name Sister Peter Margaret in honor of her parents, and after her canonical novitiate year was sent to St. Mary Star of the Sea School in Chicago. Her entire life in ministry was, in fact, to be spent in either Chicago, Hometown, or Elmhurst, Illinois.

Sister Noreen was at St. Mary Star of the Sea for three years, from December 1951 to December 1954. On New Year’s Eve 1954, Mother Gerald Barry telephoned to tell her that she was being changed to Our Lady of Loretto School in Hometown, a new school that was to open in February 1955. She and the other Sisters missioned there would spend the month of January getting the building ready.

Hometown itself was fairly new as well, built after World War II for returning service members and their families, and Sister Noreen said it was perhaps her favorite mission,

as it was truly like a “home town with young marrieds, children a-plenty and families with little money, but an enthusiasm which could not be matched. The school and parish were the center of life for these families who quickly filled each classroom with 60 and more lively children. Even the City Hall was headquartered for several years in the school.

Sister Noreen was there for six years (1954-1960), completing her bachelor’s degree in history from Siena Heights College (University) in 1958 and beginning the first of what would be three master’s degrees, all from DePaul University, during this time as well. She would go on to earn a Master of Arts in American history in 1965, a Master of Education in administration and school supervision in 1977, and a Master of Arts in human services and counseling in 1986.

Her next assignment was to St. Laurence School, Chicago for one year (1960-1961), followed by four years (1961-1965) at St. Philip Neri School, Chicago, where she taught junior high history and “enjoyed probably my best teaching years,” she wrote. “The students were bright, articulate and enthusiastic about every aspect of their education.”

She was then assigned to be principal and superior at Visitation School in Elmhurst. “I was welcomed with open arms by an amazing group of our sisters, none of whom I had previously met,” she wrote. “A beautiful seven years [1965-1972] were spent with a house full of lively young women, and a few very wise older ones.”

Next, she taught junior high history for two years at St. Rita School in Chicago. Then, in 1974, she was asked to go back to Our Lady of Loretto, this time as principal, and because she found herself counseling not only students but parents and other family members as well, she decided to follow up her second master’s by studying guidance and counseling, which led to her third graduate degree.

This led her into a new phase of ministry. She left Our Lady of Loretto School after eleven years there, spent a year at DePaul full-time completing that master’s in counseling, and then became a counselor at Maria High School in Chicago in 1986.

“This ministry was a challenge and a gift, as the student population began to change from all-white to a truly inner-city school, with a most diverse group of young women,” she wrote. “… This experience was a gift from God, as I grew to love all of the students and was amazed to see that a teenager is a teenager, no matter what race, creed, culture or background!”

After eighteen years at the school, Sister Noreen retired from formal ministry in 2005 but continued to live in Oak Lawn, Illinois, for several more years. She finally returned to Adrian in 2016 and spent the rest of her days at the Dominican Life Center, where she died on February 18, 2021. She was eighty- eight years old and in her seventieth year of religious profession.

Sisters who contributed remembrances after her passing mentioned Sister Noreen’s deep spirituality and artistic talents, while a colleague at Maria High School, Margaret Hayes, said she would be remembered “as a wonderful, dedicated educator who served as a staunch advocate for the students she counseled.”

Also sending in remembrances were Sister Noreen’s nephew Paul and her niece Kathleen. Paul shared several memories of his own and even a funny family story from his father, Larry, about how embarrassed he was when he took her to see the movie “Drums Along the Mohawk” when she was seven and she screamed during a scary scene with lightning in it. Kathleen recalled family functions with “Nonnie,” as the children called her:

All who knew her were aware that she didn’t like to talk about herself. Instead, she wanted to know all about our families, our jobs, our adventures. And she loved babies. If there was a baby at a gathering, you would find him or her in Noreen’s arms.

Sister Mary Margaret Mannard, her longtime friend, wrote her funeral homily:

… Noreen was a woman of faith and substance: quiet, observant and reflective. A focal point for her prayer, when she lived in Chicago, was a photograph of the front entrance to Madden Hall which hung above her kitchen table where she prayed each morning. The photo revealed that her prayer was anchored in this Congregation.

… For Noreen, one of [her] experiences of the Divine was opera, especially Puccini. Not too long ago I asked her, “How do you feel when you hear opera?” She closed her eyes and responded by saying, “I can’t explain it. I am in a wonderful place beyond myself.”

The creative genius of musicians, artists, and writers captivated Noreen. Imagine her ecstasy right now as she interacts with these heroes of hers.

… Now Noreen is in the presence of her God who prepared a place for her as well as for all her champions of faith, the arts, and history. She takes with her all of us whom she loved and all the good that this Congregation has done.

Noreen, our friendship has been such a gift to me. Thank you for loving me and you know how I love you. Rest now in God’s embrace and in God’s fidelity, my dear friend.