Found the following obits and articles following the unfortunate death of Sister Mary Louise Donnelly while in the hospital following her knee surgery Bob Alvey Ennis Journal (TX), September 25, 2008 Mary Louise Donnelly, 81, passed away Sept. 16, 2008 at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Mary Louise was born in Clear Lake, South Dakota on Nov. 26, 1926 to parents Leo H. Donnelly and Martha Almyra (Tollett) Donnelly. She grew up in Kansas and earned a Masters Degree in Religious Education. She was, for a time, a member of the Sisters of Charity in Xavier, Kansas and then the Sisters for Christian Community in Virginia, until they disbanded. From 1987 to 1993 she worked at St. John Catholic Church in Ennis as Director of Religious Education. Mary Louise is preceded in death by her parents and seven brothers: Leo, Jr., Frank, Myron, Bob, Harry, Charles and Tedd. Mass was celebrated Friday, Sept. 19, 2008 at 2 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waxahachie, Texas, with the Rev. Msgr. Mark Seitz as celebrant. Rosary was recited Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Keever Chapel (408 N. Dallas Street) in Ennis, Texas. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery in Ennis under the direction of J.E. Keever Mortuary Inc. Waxahachie Daily Light, The (TX) September 18, 2008 Mary Louise Donnelly, 81, passed away Sept. 16, 2008, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Mary Louise was born in Clear Lake, S.D,. on Nov. 26, 1926 to parents Leo H. Donnelly and Martha Almyra (Tollett) Donnelly. She grew up in Kansas and earned a master's degree in religious education. She was, for a time, a member of the Sisters of Charity in Xavier, Kan., and then the Sisters for Christian Community in Virginia, until they disbanded. From 1987 to 1993, she worked at St. John Catholic Church in Ennis as director of religious education. Mary Louise was preceded in death by her parents and seven brothers: Leo Jr., Frank, Myron, Bob, Harry, Charles and Tedd. Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, 2008, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waxahachie, Texas, with the Rev. Msgr. Mark Seitz as celebrant. Rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, in the Keever Chapel, 408 N. Dallas St., in Ennis. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery in Ennis under the direction of J.E. Keever Mortuary Inc. Ennis Journal (TX) September 25, 2008 Bridge to eternity Author: J. LOUISE LARSON; Ennis Journal Managing Editor When Mary Louise Donnelly of Ennis passed away suddenly on Sept. 16 from complications after knee surgery, she left behind several card tables of new friends. A native of Clear Lake, South Dakota, she grew up in Kansas and earned a masters degree in religious education. She was, for a time, a member of the Sisters of Charity in Xavier, Kansas and then the Sisters for Christian Community in Virginia, until they disbanded. From 1987 to 1993 she worked at St. John Catholic Church in Ennis as director of religious education. She wrote a number of books about family genealogy. But most recently, she taught bridge at the Ennis Public Library. Therese Dempsey was postmaster at the Rice post office for 30 years. When she retired last year, she knew one of the things she wanted to do in her free time. “I just felt bridge was something I’d always wanted to do that I never had time for because I worked,” she recalled. Her sister plays bridge, and Dempsey has hopes of getting good enough to join her at the card table. “I wanted to keep my mind active. I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world, unless it was absolutely necessary,” she said. Dempsey recalled her teacher and the decision to play bridge as usual the morning of the funeral. “She was a young 81, and she loved playing bridge and she loved teaching it, so we continued the morning of the funeral. We played that morning in her memory – we talked about how much we missed her, and how she’ d want us to play, so we played,” Dempsey recalled. Ennis retiree Robert Garrison said his library bridge games are keeping him from being bored. “I’m 80 years old, and it’s a good way to pass the time,” he said. “It’s a very competitive game and it takes a little school – which I haven’t developed yet.” So what else would he be doing? “I’d probably be playing on the computer, sleeping or reading,” he said. Rose Glossen lives in Telico. Prior to retiring she handled equipment inventorying for all the 7-11’s in the country. She loves to make the trip in to Ennis to play bridge. Newly widowed, it helped her deal with fresh grief. “I like the interaction with the others. When I first started playing, I’d just lost my husband and I was trying to find way to adjust. All these ladies are really nice, and it’s a good way to keep your mind active and have a good time,” Glossen said, recalling the woman they all knew as Louise Donnelly. “She was smart, she was kind, she was fair, she was a good teacher – and I loved her,” she said, adding that she didn’t realize at first that her bridge teacher was also the woman who had written genealogy books she had purchased that described her grandmother’s side of the family tree. “We bought a lot of her books. She wrote on my grandmother’s family. She said all the families she had done, she was related to in some way by blood or by marriage, so I guess we were related somehow,” Glossen said. Sandra Turner was one of the newest members of the group. She hadn’t played bridge in 30 years prior to coming to the library. Retired from the computer business, she loved the opportunity to keep her mind sharp. “I hope the group will stay together – I think it just keeps you mentally alert, and then there’s the social aspect of it – being with friends, keeping up,” she said. She will miss her gentle teacher, Turner said. Jean Weaver joined up this summer in hopes of meeting some new friends and learning something new. She wasn’t disappointed. “Everyone up there is real nice, real friendly – we laugh, we don’t take it real serious. We just do this for fun,” Weaver said, recalling the last time the group spoke with Donnelly. “She called us on that Friday, and somebody had a speaker phone, and we talked to her. That next Wednesday, they called us and told us she’d passed away. “Seven of us went to the rosary. She looked beautiful, she looked so pretty – we found out later that she really used to be a nun.” So is there a bridge game in Heaven? “If there is, she’ll be playing it,” Weaver said. “She loved bridge, and she really had the knowledge of it, too.” Mary Louise Donnelly’s legacy continues at the Ennis Public Library. The group she nurtured at the end of her life has hopes that a new instructor will come along. In the meantime, library books on the game they can pull out, to continue learning the intricacies of keeping score. And they have branched out. “We’re playing 42 in the afternoons now,” Weaver said, adding that more players are welcome. **************Get movies delivered to your mailbox. One month free from blockbuster.com (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212639737x1200784900/aol?redir=https://www.blockbuster.com/signup/y/reg/p.26978/r.email_footer)