We invite readers to send short stories about the ways in which their lives have been personally blessed by the life and work of priests and religious in our diocese.
Sister Betty Carr knows about wartime on the home front. As a young woman in World War II, she operated an overhead crane in a defense plant in Chicago, making tractors for the war effort.
Born in Farley, Iowa, on Nov. 1, 1923, she grew up in a Catholic family in Cascade, Iowa. She said she attended Catholic grade and high schools, graduating from St. Martin’s High School in 1941.
After serving in Chicago, she returned to Dubuque, Iowa, and joined the Legion of Mary, whose spiritual director introduced her to the Sisters of Mercy. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1946, made her first vows in 1949 and her final vows in 1952.
Sister Carr taught first and second grades – sometimes both – for 47 years, beginning at St. Matthew’s in Kalispell. She also taught in Edena, Minn., and several schools in the Dubuque Archdiocese. In 1989 she returned to St. Matthew’s and taught for three years before retiring.
She spends her retirement visiting and taking communion to the homebound with her dog, Mattie.
Visiting the homebound and taking care of Mattie keep her busy, she said.
She loves sports, live or on television, and especially enjoys being an official timekeeper for the elementary school basketball and volleyball games.
“I love Iowa and Montana, especially the wonderful people in St. Matthew’s Parish,” she concluded.
Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 19, No. 5, May 16, 2003.