Oral History: Sister Carol Nolan

Note: This oral history, written by Providence Associate Debbie Griffey, coincides with Sister Carol’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Sister Carol!

“I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wanted to get married.”  — Sister Carol Nolan, SP

Sister Carol Nolan never intended to be a Sister of Providence of Saint Mary of-the-Woods. Carol already had one sister who was in the community and another who had decided in fourth grade she would join the Sisters of Providence when she was old enough. But community was not for Carol. What Carol wanted was to attend Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, study music and get married.

A ‘Large Catholic Family’

Carol Elizabeth Nolan was born in Galesburg, Illinois, during the Great Depression and grew up in a large Catholic family. The family had been associated with the Sisters of Providence since the Sisters arrived in Galesburg, Illinois, in the 1870’s. Carol’s grandfather had been one of their first students.

Her great aunt, the late Sister Modesta Mary Nolan, was a member of the community. Her mother was taught by the Sisters of Providence as were Carol’s sisters and brothers and cousins in Galesburg. She was the third of five children born to Daniel Paul and Helena Cofield Nolan. Lucy, Dan, Carol, Nancy, and youngest brother John rounded out the family. John is Sister Carol’s only surviving sibling and he lives in Chicago and remains dear to her.

Descendant of the clans of Ireland, Carol describes the Nolans as a talented, musical and fun-loving family. “Our family sang and danced and recited poetry. Our cousin on my mother’s side in Chicago could hardly wait till she was old enough to come to our house on the train to visit us.”

Helena Nolan was a beloved teacher, with a sweet nature that drew people to her. She taught for many years and had a restaurant famous for her pies. Carol’s father Paul had a variety of jobs through the depression. “He drove a bread truck, and he managed a small bakery which paid about $30 per week, a lot of money during the depression.”

Family Fun

When Carol was 5, she had rheumatic fever and had to lie flat on her back for five months. Family fun was so contagious that she didn’t want to be left out, so every day she would lie on the couch and pretend she was somewhere else until her father would come home and the fun would begin.

“Our father adored us and we adored him. It was a happy family because Daddy loved being a dad. He did everything for us. We would listen to the Notre Dame games on the radio. We were provincial; we would all sit around the radio, and he would explain the game to us. I was in college before I realized not all Catholics cheered for Notre Dame! Daddy thought we were perfect. Lucy and I would cook and clean the house. Nancy was out playing with the boys. She didn’t have to worry about cooking or anything like that. We weren’t jealous of Nancy; I didn’t want to play football!”

No Initial Interest

Although Carol had no interest in a religious vocation, she was very interested in attending Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and she did want to further her music. The gift of musical talent has been hers from birth. Her father was musical and took voice lessons to improve his own voice. He recited poetry and was a terrific pianist who played by ear and taught his children the popular songs from the 1920s and 30s. Her siblings played music. This was a bright, talented and musical family.

Carol began piano lessons in elementary school. “There was a lady in town who charged 50 cents for lessons while the others charged 75 cents. I took lessons from the 50 cents lady because although during the Great Depression we were well off, after the depression we were poor. This lady taught the right hand and then the left hand, a terrible way to teach it. It’s why I never had any talent with piano.” Carol began violin in seventh grade. The seventh-grade music teacher, the late Sister Mary Huberta, liked popular music so the school had a mixed chorus of boys and girls. Carol and Lucy attended the Galesburg School of Fine Arts. They entertained on stages to the delight of audiences when they were young. Talent was in their DNA. Carol’s childhood was filled with music and fun.

College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, the alma mater of Carol’s family – the Nolans, Cofields and Sullivans — was Carol’s dream. After graduating from St. Joseph Academy and Corpus Christi schools in Galesburg, she followed that dream and enrolled. She was immersed in music. The late Sister Cecilia Clare Bocard steered her from a music education degree into a music degree. As a music major her time was spent practicing the violin or practicing with choir in the conservatory. It was an opportunity to play in the Terre Haute Symphony as a student, to meet and be with people who were in the field of music.

“We were made for God. The human spirit is lured by holiness.” — Christine Vladimiroff, OSB

Made for God or not, with other family members in the community or committed to it, Carol remained adamant in her feelings about the community: “I had no interest.”

Discerning the Future

But long days of practice in a conservatory can be meditative, with hours of time to contemplate, to discern one’s future. “One night I said to Jesus, ‘Look at Joan, she’s a really nice girl, she’s not going to be a Sister.’ Then two days later Joan came to me and told me she was going to be a Sister! Finally, I just said I give up! I give up! Those whom God wants, God gets!”

Carol entered the Sisters of Providence the second semester of her freshman year at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Her sister Nancy’s entrance would follow.

What was it like for a young woman who had had no intention to become a member of the community? And what did Paul and Helena Nolan think of all three daughters being in the community?

Mom’s sacrifices

“Joining was wonderful! There were initial things you lose but you knew what they were. And we were only 18 so we were limited in worldly knowledge anyway. Some things were wonderful in the beginning, not so much later. Because I was a music major my work was in the conservatory and not cleaning or picking berries or working in the cannery. My sisters were very supportive of my entry. We all loved each other very much. “

My mother? This was her second child entering and she knew Nancy would enter soon. Mother would not have said anything, but it was hard for her. Mother was a very holy person. When Mother had cancer and Nancy delayed entry to help her at home, Mother hemmed and hawed about the delay. But, she never hinted that Nancy should wait. Mother was a saint! I said to her one time, ‘We kind of neglected you at home when we were growing up.’ But she said she was so happy that we enjoyed our father so much. She was a saint!” Helena Nolan was a devout Catholic who loved her daughters and was loved by all “She was a saint!”

Sister Mary Sheila

Carol Elizabeth Nolan became Sister Mary Sheila. ‘Sheila’ is the Irish derivative of Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians, whose statue stands outside the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Carol wrote a wonderful reflection about Saint Cecilia, published on Nov. 22, 2022, St. Cecilia’s feast day.

“Music is God’s gift to us; the only art of heaven given to Earth; the only art of Earth we take to heaven.” — Sister Mary Lourdes Mackey, SP

Sister Carol had lived and breathed music from an early age. She began violin in seventh grade and excelled. She also excelled in the classroom. Two years after entering the community, she began her first teaching mission at St. Andrew School in Indianapolis, teaching music and second grade. For the next 15 years she taught music in elementary and high schools in Indianapolis, Chicago and River Grove, Illinois.

She taught music at Mother Theodore Guerin High School in River Grove. While there, she and the late Sister Mary Catherine Keene studied with George Perlman, a prominent violinist and composer in Chicago. Sister Carol gave several recitals there, and at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College during her summers.

Following her time at Guerin, Carol went to Maternity BVM school in Chicago, where she learned the Suzuki method of teaching young children the violin. She finalized her bachelor’s degree in music from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, then continued with her education to get a Master’s of Music degree from Illinois State University. Later she would receive a master’s degree in German.

Return to SMWC

In 1969 Carol returned to the Woods and became a professor of music at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. She expanded the College-Community Orchestra. She taught Music Theory and Music History and String Techniques and gave private lessons.

During her tenure at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Carol received her Master’s in German at the German Summer School of the Pacific of Portland State University. She became fluent in German. She wrote her thesis in German on the life of Wolfgang Mozart.

Carol taught German language classes at SMWC in addition to the classes she was already teaching. She taught a class at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She was also an Independent Translator. Sister Carol Nolan remained as a professor at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College for a total of 29 years.

Making music

Wherever Carol was, she played with a symphony, much like other Sisters of Providence who had the gift of musical talent. She played with the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra for 15 years. At one time she also played with the Northside Symphony Orchestra in Chicago.

She played with an Austria Symphony Orchestra. Carol was the director of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Collegium Musicum. She also conducted a recorder group and obtained Renaissance costumes for that group so they could dress in period costume for their performances.

Carol can describe the subtleties and the nuances of a violin and bow, and precisely how one holds and moves the arm while playing, in such great detail and with such confidence that even a non-player can marvel at the intricacy involved. And she talks about all of this with great humility.

“You journey with your ancestors … and whether you know it or not, they’re journeying with you.” — Dr. Barbara Holmes

On the move

“I’m a Sagittarius. My sister Nancy used to say Sagittarians always have their bags packed.” The late Sister Nancy Nolan surely knew her sister Carol well. During her tenure as professor at the college, Carol spent one year in Austria teaching the English language to students. Her time with them sounds as much like an adventure as the job it was. “I brought literature to them. I took ‘Casey At the Bat’ and ‘The Cremation of Sam McGhee’.”

Her students didn’t understand baseball, a game not widely played in Austria at that time. So she explained it to them as her father had explained football to his children. They got it! She isn’t sure they really understood the poem about Sam McGhee, but the entertaining spirit of her father burns bright within her.

After Austria, Sister Carol Nolan returned to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College where she remained another 23 years on the faculty as Professor of Music.

Sisters Carol audited Chinese classes at the college which proved helpful during her next mission in Taiwan. She was in Taiwan twice, once for the Asian Experience. She also taught music at an orphanage for special needs individuals. In total she was in Taiwan for three years.

Carol said although Taiwan was hot it was beautiful. She lived with the Missionary Sisters of Providence, and had a wonderful time. She said that when those Sisters came from Taiwan to the Woods they remarked that the Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods had the ‘same easy spirit’.

“When someone asks what there is to do, light the candle in their hand.” — Rumi

Seeking New Experiences

Sister Carol Nolan seeks new experiences and learning comes easy to her. But she is a teacher, first and foremost. After three years in Taiwan she returned to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and went on sabbatical in Texas and Mexico for Spanish immersion.

At the age of 69 Sister Carol drove West to California. She intended to teach, the ministry which she loves. “Education changes people as nothing else does,” Sister Carol has said. “Think about how your education has changed you and your life.” And for the next 15 years Carol changed lives in Coachella Valley, California, by sharing the gifts she had been given, and by lighting others’ candles.

“I wanted to go where nobody was instead of an established ministry.” And she did. Coachella Valley contains some of the poorest people living in the United States. It has been compared to many third-world countries in environment, opportunities and hardships. The residents are predominantly Mexican immigrants working in the lush farm fields surrounding the Coachella Valley. When Sister Carol arrived she found hardworking, industrious individuals trying to make a living. They are marginalized, discriminated against for their poverty, their culture, their inability to speak English.

Carol had intended to go to Mexico for this work, but Sister Marilú Covani, SP, suggested she consider Coachella Valley. Sister Carol wasn’t exactly sure what she would find there, but she knew that she would encounter some of the poorest people in the United States.

Serving the immigrant

In addition to her fervor for teaching, Sister Carol Nolan is a justice warrior. It’s a passion built into her very marrow as a Sister of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, daughter of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Sister Carol witnessed workers on their knees in the fields for months at a time, some of the hardest workers she had ever seen in her life.

It touched her heart and her understanding of what was in front of her. She waded right in, fearless, with no thought that she could not make a difference. She founded Providence in the Desert, a program of Guerin Outreach Ministries, to bring English language instruction to these hard-working immigrants.

 “I am that living and fiery essence of the divine substance … I shine in the water; I burn in the sun and the moon and the stars.” — St. Hildegard of Bingen

Sister Carol Nolan will tell you the Desert changed her life. Not once in two days as we talked did she mention that she changed the lives of hundreds of immigrants desperately wanting to learn English.

They wanted to be able to communicate with their child’s teacher, their doctors, the English-speaking community and to access services. And when they found she was a music teacher, they wanted music instruction for their children. Sister Carol loved the people she worked with and they loved her.

Sister Carol went to Coachella Valley believing there were three trailer parks. There were more than 300. This Sister of Providence channeled the same fervor Saint Mother Theodore Guerin had brought to this country. She traveled to where the people were. The late Sister Loretta Picucci joined her. Carol convinced the late Sister Concetta Banez to join them as well.

Work ethic

Sister Carol taught music during the day to children of migrants and English at night to migrant workers in their homes, in regional schools and in community centers. She advocated for better housing and assistance for survivors of domestic violence.

Leaders of the Diocese respected her as she and attended meetings and advocated for the Latino communities. As Director of Providence in the Desert she was also responsible for pursuing grants, getting volunteers for the programs and doing all the paperwork.

She brought Nuns on the Bus to Coachella in 2013 to highlight the plight of the immigrants, people who often worked all day on their knees for eight months of the year. Sister Carol protested in justice demonstrations twice a week in Redlands, California.

Sister Loretta Picucci once said of Sister Carol, “She is amazing. Her work style is to work. She runs circles around anybody with her energy and how much she can work and do…and she never forgets anyone’s name. And the people love her, they really do.” As another community member remarked, Sister Carol Nolan was Providence in the Desert.

“It is truly sublime to be devoted to the service of our neighbor, to cooperate so intimately with our blessed Lord in the work for which he laid down his life. But we must not think it is an easy task.” — Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Advocacy and Awards

In 2014 the Democratic Women of the Desert presented the Women Honoring Women Volunteer-of-the-Year Award to Carol, who had this to say, “I believe love and education can change the world. Only love has the power to transform.”  

In 2015, Providence Associate and Sisters of Providence staff member Amy Miranda visited Providence in the Desert. She said this about what she witnessed: “I saw two sisters pouring out their lives for others … It’s about living out the Gospel of Christ … about showing your love to every person you see … because these people need someone, and right now that someone is you. It’s a powerful thing to see.”

In 2016 Sister Carol Nolan received the prestigious Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Award from the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Board of Directors given to an alums who exhibits the purpose, devotion, vitality, and leadership that Saint Mother Theodore Guerin exhibited.

While in California, Carol accompanied Providence Associates, who frequently met with the Sisters there.

Dedicated

She is a huge fan of the Providence Associates relationship with the Sisters of Providence. Sister Carol champions inclusion. She is a writer. You can search her name on the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods blog and find numerous articles she has written. She has been driven in her life by her love of God and community, her passion for love, mercy and justice, and her violin. She no longer plays, but it is one of the gifts she shared for decades with community wherever she was. Although she was fluent in five languages, she is quick to say she has forgotten much but can still say ‘I don’t know’ in five languages. Sister Carol Nolan is proud of her community and the international background of many of the younger sisters. She is optimistic about the future.

Sister Carol returned to the Woods in 2018. Even now Sister Carol Nolan is driven by justice. It is what gets her up in the morning. She sites near the front of the church so she is not distracted and rarely misses.

While at Mass, she verbalizes an intercession every day for immigrants and that justice will be granted to them. She also prays an intercession daily to end the death penalty. Mass is the important part of her day.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” — St. Catherine of Siena

Endearing

Carol Nolan is a brilliant and passionate conversationalist. Some call her a true Renaissance woman, as our own Mother Theodore was, excelling in many fields with vast knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines. Sister Carol is able to shift easily into anything she aspired to — art, music, language, travel, education.

She turned her own passion for learning into a passion for teaching. She is remembered fondly and with great respect by those in the music field, and those in the justice field and by her students. Sister Carol is creative and innovative, a visionary, all characteristics needed to tackle new languages, conquer new environments, confront injustice. She has the independence and spark to reach out and accomplish.

Carol’s drive to bring all of this to others began in Galesburg in the 1930s. Look for her writings. Ask her about explaining baseball to Austrian students who were unfamiliar with the game or ask her to recite ‘The Cremation of Sam McGhee’, and you’ll see why students were fascinated with this Sister of Providence. You’ll see her love for teaching in action.

But you’ll also witness her channeling Paul Nolan standing in the living room of his home in Galesburg, Illinois, surrounded by five children hanging on his every word, dramatizing and creating for them a world of magic and music and fun, which would lead them out into the world to share God’s splendor.

A life worthy of the call

Carol Nolan never intended to be a Sister of Providence. It just didn’t interest her. Marriage and children were in her sights, maybe teaching music or playing in a local symphony, not a religious order.

But God spoke to her in that conservatory, and she embraced what Mother Theodore had imagined and brought to fruition in a wooded area in Vigo County, Indiana.

The Creator meant for Sister Carol Nolan to set the world on fire and to light others’ candles. And she has not disappointed.