sISTER jOAN vICKERS rscj
19.11.1918 - 12.12.2008
The pattern of Sr Joan’s life was typical of our 80s generation: 20 years’ preparation at home and school, 30 hidden years in traditional religious life, 30 years of public life in “second apostolates” and a final decade of withdrawal, prayer and suffering.
20 Years of Preparation
Joan was the youngest of a large Catholic family in Blenheim. Three girls became Religious of the Sacred Heart, one died at 19 before she could become one, Michael became a Redemptorist Brother and Trixie and Vincent thankfully married, to extend the great clan of Vickers, Bourkes, O’Connors, Hickmans, etc., so devoted and supportive of one another as they spread throughout the land.
Coming after the two boys, Joan quickly saw through the deception of “Mum’s looking for you” and stayed with them to become at cricket the backstop and ball-chaser, at rugby the little tackler. She suffered, of course, from the “hand-me-down” syndrome. She remembered fondly the small farm, the homely entertainment in the winter evenings, the toi-toi battles in the park between the Catholic Dogs and the Protestant Puppies, (who later fought side by side in World War II). She soon drove the family vintage car. One by one the siblings left for boarding-school and she herself looked forward to ferry-crossings to Wellington and the antics of ‘Pelorus Jack” (a famous dolphin).
As a lowly third-former I can picture her still as Head Girl at Erskine, with her auburn hair and green eyes, Child of Mary, Blue Ribbon, neat, erect, serious. She excelled at games and at tidiness –when the monthly Order Marks were read out we groaned at her regular 100% and nearly cheered when a stray hair in her hairbrush brought her down to 99. She stayed on a year as teachers’ aide and excited her classes with her wardrobe, especially her animal-patterned pinafores. She “came out” as a debutante at the Charity Ball and “went into” the convent some months later. Better that way, she always said, than the other way round.
Sailing to Sydney on September 3, 1939, she was deprived of a final fling at the ball on board by a sudden war-blackout. The noviceship was evacuated to Melbourne and she was disappointed not to find either Winifred or Cushla nearby. (Rumour had it that Superiors always kept the three sisters apart, like possible explosives). In honour of her 21st birthday the novices were allowed to paddle in Sydney Harbour. All she wanted, she said, was a ticket home. But she survived. As did her two brothers, who had been quick to enlist. In 1940 she remembered gazing down below the convent at 2am in the morning, after night adoration, at the troop ship which she knew carried those brothers to war.
30 Years of Hidden Religious Life
Like all the young religious of those days she literally served an apprenticeship. Frequently transferred –Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington- she wrestled with unruly classrooms, spent sleepless nights as dormitory mistress, organized games, ruled for three years over the Junior School and finally, as Mistress of Discipline, regulated Senior school movements with no more than the click of her signal and the stern look on her face. In community she was quiet, decisive, quick to serve but always ready for fun. At one concert she dressed up, wig and all, as one of the Beatles –and was reprimanded for removing her frilled cap. Another time she tried roller-skating, and broke her arm. She knitted to perfection and did wonderful embroidery until years later when she cut off the top of her index finger on the motor-mower. Superiors, however, had noted her business ability and flair for drawing up building plans. In 1950 she began 20 years, (20 years! she noted, with 5 exclamation marks), as local and New Zealand Bursar, keeping the books, maintaining the grounds, supervising buildings and earning the respect of all, Superiors, architects and tradesmen. Later, she had the anguish of seeing many of those works undone. One incident from those days: Arranging some very foreign currency for a traveller, she convulsed the bank attendant by asking, “How may tickles for a pound?”
30 Years of Public Apostolate
With the “changes” after Vatican II, which she welcomed as an outward release, a ”longed-for dream” came true when she was sent to Loreto Hall in 1969 to complete her primary training. She spent nine happy years teaching in Christchurch and Sydney. At first she was disappointed to be called to a Parish Team in Christchurch in 1979 but she soon found that life varied and rewarding, the pastors and parishioners great company. In her methodical way she set about gaining qualifications for her new apostolates: a live-in year at Assumption Institute in Melbourne, Courses in Counselling and Clinical Pastoral Education, teaching English to immigrants, training for hospital chaplaincy and for ITIM: (Interchurch Trade and Industry Mission), where she worked with staff at the AMP and in Westpac banks in Wellington. She leaves a whole sheaf of diplomas and certificates, even one from the Electrical Association for Women in NZ, Inc. for domestic repairs and household wiring! And another sheaf of thanks and tributes from colleagues, patients and clients. Her quiet gifts of sympathy, concern and practical help came into their own as she tirelessly visited homes, hospitals, prisons and workplaces. She was a valued Pastoral Assistant for nine years in Christ the King Parish, Christchurch and for ten years in Mt Victoria Parish, Wellington. As Msgr Carde summed up at her Golden Jubilee in 1998, “Take God out of Joan’s life and you have nothing left…How much of Christ did she find each day? Like the restorer of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, one square centimetre, one thumbnail every day. This is how we find God, how Joan has found Him, one thumbnail every day. She may have had a Damascus experience –but mostly it’s in the ordinary day in and day out. We thank you, Sister Joan, for your care of us by your steadfastness, your endurance, your care for those who cannot get out any more, your toughness. Yes, she is some tough woman!” She needed to be that for her last decade.
10 Years for the Finishing Touches
Her return to Christchurch was marked by the deaths of both Sister Cushla and Brother Michael within eight months of one another and then by the heartbreak of having to close Cottesmore community, leaving behind many friends and her loved South Island. After so many decades of activity, she found her first move to Baradene in 2000 “traumatic”, and the final three years of withdrawal from Wellington hard and lonely. She kept up her reading, her long walks and that upright carriage so indicative of her whole character. She struggled to remain positive. Just before Winifred’s death in 2006 she suffered a severe stroke and became gradually dependent, unable to speak or write. But her affairs were always in order, her dress as meticulous as ever, her smile bright and her gratitude to her carers touching.
Winifred, with her outgoing sparkle, often teased Joan about being proper and straitlaced… Cushla, in her forthright manner, would urge her to “come out of herself”… but she would not be drawn into being anything other than herself, quiet, reserved and resolute. Beyond a great and affectionate relationship with the Superiors who trained her and an appreciation of the spiritual opportunities she made full use of, she has said little about her inner life and apparently left no spiritual notes. Sometimes we would recall our days as novices, when we made huge acts of self-sacrifice to the Sacred Heart and abandonment to the Will of God, without any idea of what it really meant, until the Lord showed her in these last years. Or we would remind ourselves that Jesus’ final gift to those who are faithful is often a share in His Cross. Her final serenity proved that she had understood. Surprisingly, perhaps, she took a great liking to the modern picture of the “laughing Jesus” (which you will find at the end of your Mass-leaflet). I am sure it is with this smile that He has already said to her, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter now into the joy of your Lord.
Sr Margaret D'Ath
December 17
2008