MCELWEE, THERESA MAUDE (1884-1980)

MCELWEE, THERESA MAUDE, Sister McElwee of the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph; teacher, and superior at Chatham, 1935-38; b. Blissfield, 28 Jun 1884, d/o Samuel McElwee and Mary Ann Moran; entered religious life, 1904; d. Chatham, 17 Dec 1980.

T. Maude McElwee obtained her secondary education at the Doaktown Superior School and St Mary's Academy in Newcastle. She taught school at Bartibog on a local license for a year and entered the Provincial Normal School in 1903. She was in possession of a 1st class teacher's license in 1906 when she was appointed to the staff of St Michael's Academy. She later completed the requirements for a degree through the extension program of Queen's University (BA 1914). After she retired from classroom duties she worked as a volunteer catechist, giving religious instruction for many years in the rural parishes of the diocese.

In 1929 McElwee was appointed director of novices at Chatham. In 1935 she was elected to a three-year term as superior. She also filled other important positions, including that of bursar. During her retirement she was the annalist of the community, recording and preserving its history. She was an original member of St Michael's Historical Society in 1973 and played a prominent part in the founding of St Michael's Museum. She was in attendance at board meetings of the society until the year before her death in 1980, at age ninety-six.