Sister Teresa Margaret Turnwald

Sister Teresa Margaret, O.C.D. Sister Teresa Margaret died peacefully at the Monastery of St. Therese on May 15 at the age of 97, after 78 years of religious life. Sister was born Louise Gertrude Turnwald, daughter of John and Elizabeth Andres Turnwald, in Maple Grove, Michigan, a rural community north of Flint. As a child of five, when asked by her father what she wanted to be when she grew up, she responded promptly, “A Sister.” Her three Dominican aunts hoped, of course, that she would follow in their footsteps; but Louise from the beginning felt she was called to something different. “Follow your heart,” advised her pastor. “You know what God is asking of you.” Louise entered the Monastery of St. Therese, a community of cloistered Carmelite nuns, in 1934 at the age of 19. The following spring she received the habit and the name Sister Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. The community had been founded only in 1926 and was full of fresh young faces. Sister Teresa Margaret became part of a core group of Sisters who led the community for the next sixty years and formed its characteristic spirit. Together with her Sisters, she embraced Vatican II in a spirit of loving obedience to the Church. As Novice Mistress, she introduced a program of serious study for a new generation of novices, making every effort to give them the solid background envisioned by the postconciliar Church. In addition to her offices of Subprioress and Novice Mistress, she served at various times in cooking, sewing, and infirmary work. But she will be most remembered for the artwork she developed for our Spiritual Treasury enrollment program, which we have since transferred to the computer and continue to use. She was also the community poet, composing verses for professions, feast days, and any other occasions required. Always and above all, she was in love with the Lord. In her artwork and her poetry she expressed that ardent love which had led her to Carmel in her youth and which continued to be the source of her fidelity, generosity, kindness and good humor all her life long. She lived to the very end the spirit she had expressed on her profession day in 1936: And oh! how sweet in life’s last hour To think God’s will I’ve done. I’ve been obedient unto death Like His Eternal Son. Her funeral was celebrated on May 20 by Fr. Thomas Sutherland. She is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.

Sister Teresa Margaret Turnwald

October 7, 1915 - May 15, 2013