Globe-trotting sister honored for service

BY PAT PASTERNAK
STAFF WRITER

When Sister Jean Whalen, CSJ, professed her first vows with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1944, she had no idea that her work as a religious sister would span the globe. She has traveled to Canada, Italy, France, Ireland, England and Mexico.

"I never expected to travel so much, but I've learned so much from all of my experiences," she said.

Last fall, she added another unexpected experience: She was honored, along with 49 other area senior citizens, by the Capital District Senior Issues Forum for "service to the community and continuing concern for others."

A native of Whitehall, Sister Jean grew up in Our Lady of Angels parish there, and went on to receive a degree in French from The College of St. Rose (CSR) in Albany.

As soon as she entered religious life, she began teaching second grade at St. Bernard's School in Cohoes (now closed). She also taught French, Latin and English in various diocesan high schools for several years.

Travel time

The teacher's travels began with studies for a doctorate in French and linguistics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Then she began teaching French, English and linguistics to students at CSR, and to Methodist student missionaries downstate who were preparing to travel overseas.

"The missionary students had to learn the language of the country they were planning to work in," she explained, "and I was called upon to teach them linguistics."

She said the course is vital for anyone learning a foreign language so they can be "understood by those you are speaking to and to correctly pronounce the sounds of the language you are learning.

"There are three important parts of linguistics: phonology, the sound system of the language; morphology, how the sounds of that language take shape and are put together; and grammar, what the structure is of those shapes."

Ambassadorial

Teaching linguistics led to a few unusual opportunities.

"I was asked to be the temporary interpreter and translator for the wife of the ambassador from the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the [19]60s," Sister Jean recalled. "She was admitted to the hospital and I was asked to interpret for her because I knew French and that's all she spoke."

The interpreter also had the opportunity to help a refugee Vietnamese family adjust to life in the U.S. by teaching them English.

"The Little Sisters of the Poor were assisting this immigrant family in the mid-[19]70s -- a mother, father and four children, two boys and two girls," she said. "They were living in a small apartment with the father's younger brother, who had a wife and two children of his own.

"They were my students for several years. They were so dedicated to learning English; it was a joy to work with them. I learned so much about their culture."

Sister Jean was also asked to help an Italian family and several surgical students at Albany Medical Center learn English.

"The students were very smart and the physician who asked me to help them learn English was concerned that they be able to understand their patients, as well as be understood by those patients when they spoke," she explained.

Memorable students

In fact, she added, one of those students was the first member of his Bolivian tribe, the Aymara, to ever be educated. The Aymara have lived in Peru and Bolivia for more than 2,000 years.

One Korean student Sister Jean taught also stood out in her mind because he supplemented his English classes by watching television: "'Perry Mason' reruns were among his favorite programs. He'd come into class asking questions such as, 'Who is the defense attorney?' and 'Who is the prosecuting attorney?'"

Although Sister Jean is retired from teaching, she continues to help others in many ways: for example, she has served as a simultaneous translator during a gathering of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet at their International Federation in Lyons, France.

Keeping busy

She has also:

* worked as office coordinator for New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty;

* helped to establish the Irish-American Museum in East Durham;

* been a presenter for a local radio program called "Living Each Day;" and

* served on the board of directors for the Albany Diocese's Catholic schools, and on diocesan planning councils, administrative review boards and councils of sisters.

Currently, Sister Jean is working with the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm on the cause for sainthood of their foundress, Mother Angeline Therese.

In her spare time, Sister Jean crochets prayer shawls for her order's shawl ministry at St. Joseph's Provincial House in Latham. At 86, she also continues to work part-time at the diocesan Chancery Office in Albany.

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