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October 17, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 18Oakland,
CA
Presentation Sisters conclude celebration of 150 years
The Sisters
of the Presentation will conclude a year-long celebration of their 150
years in the Bay Area on Nov. 13 with a 2 p.m. Mass at Saint Agnes Church,
1025 Masonic Ave., in San Francisco.
A reception will follow at the Motherhouse located at 2340 Turk Street.
The event is a thank-you for the Sisters’ many friends, former students
and co-ministers who have supported them throughout the years, said Presentation
Sister Pam Chiesa, president.
|The Sisters arrived in San Francisco in 1854 from Ireland to begin educational
and medical ministries.
In 1879, a small contingent of them moved from their mission in the City
to establish a convent in Berkeley on 2.7 acres of prairie land donated
by James McGee, a local Catholic farmer.
On July 15 of that year, a dozen young girls began attending the new St.
Joseph’s Presentation Academy in the convent building.
A year later, the superior, Mother Teresa Comerford, realized that a school
alone was not enough to meet the spiritual needs of the Sisters and Catholics
of Berkeley, so she invited her brother, retired Bishop Pierce Comerford,
to minister to the people on a full-time basis.
Bishop Comerford responded positively and in 1879 Archbishop Joseph Sadoc
Alemany established the parish of St. Joseph.
Demands on the Sisters were high. They not only taught school, but also
served as janitors because they were too poor to pay for help.
By 1881, Bishop Comerford had built St. Peter’s Boys’ School,
which the Sisters also staffed.
Then in 1912, Father Francis X. Morrison built a “new” St.
Joseph Boys School, which served the parish until 1953 when it was remodeled
into the present day structure, built around the frame of the old school.
Today, lay teachers staff St. Joseph School, headed by principal Natalie
Walchuk.
