Motherhouse had ‘never let up’ on protocols, prioress says, had been testing sisters and employees weekly since beginning of October

ADRIAN — For 11 months, the Adrian Dominican Sisters have been living with COVID-19 restrictions. 

Sisters took meals in their rooms, prayed the breviary via livestream and were confined to the Adrian campus and not allowed to see visitors or even fellow sisters who didn’t live on the motherhouse campus.  

No sister contracted the virus during the initial spike and subsequent summer lull of COVID-19 cases in Lenawee County, located in the Diocese of Lansing, due west of Monroe County on the Michigan-Ohio border. 

Then Dec. 20 hit, when the first resident tested positive for COVID-19. Further tests revealed 49 of the 217 residents had contracted the virus. By Jan. 29, nine Adrian Dominicans, known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary, had succumbed to it. 

The nine Dominicans who died ranged in age from 79 to 97. They are: 

• Sr. Dorothea Gramlich, OP
• Sr. Esther Ortega, OP
• Sr. Mary Irene Wischmeyer, OP
• Sr. Ann Rena Shinkey, OP
• Sr. Charlotte Francis Moser, OP
• Sr. Helen Laier, OP
• Sr. Mary Lisa Rieman, OP
• Sr. Margaret Ann Swallow, OP
• Sr. Jeannine Therese McGorray, OP

Three other Adrian Dominicans also passed away in January from non-COVID-19 related causes: Sr. Mary Elizabeth Scheibel, OP; Sr. Anne Liam Lees, OP; and Sr. Kathleen Sutherland, OP.

“We did what everyone else did who’s taking this very seriously,” Sr. Patricia Siemen, OP, prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, told Detroit Catholic. “We reduced our coworkers on campus; everyone stayed employed, but only essential workers were allowed to be on campus since March 13.” 

Only essential staff, such as the nursing staff who take care of the sisters in assisted living on campus, food service and environmental workers were allowed on the campus, which houses sisters in both assisted-living and independent-living accommodations. 

“Since October, we don’t even meet together, even though we’re on the same floor, but work in separate offices,” Sr. Siemen said. “We never let up on our protocol. We’ve had no guests on campus. We immediately stopped our communal gatherings for prayer and meals. Meals have been delivered to the sisters’ rooms since March. For prayers, fortunately we have a great technology system on campus, so our prayers are broadcasted. Liturgy, rosary, vespers take place with sisters watching on TV.” 

Beyond traveling to essential doctors appointments, the Dominicans have stayed on campus, using FaceTime and Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends. The protocols are most seen during prayer services and funerals in the chapel, which usually seats 300 but is now limited to 10 or 11 at most.  

Sr. Siemen said the summer months allowed sisters to walk the motherhouse grounds with another sister, a reprieve from “COVID cabin fever.” 

“During the summer when the numbers were down across the state, the sisters weren’t quarantined, but we kept testing, and any worker who tested positive couldn’t come on campus,” Sr. Siemen said. “We still didn’t have any guests during the summer, but we have over 100 acres, so the sisters who were able could walk and visit with someone outside, socially distanced, wearing masks.” 

After the pandemic first hit, the sisters locked down early, staying in their rooms. For Easter, the sisters placed TV trays in the doorways of their rooms to have an Easter meals with other sisters who lived down the hall. 

The restrictions were tough, Sr. Siemen said, but the sisters avoided going “stir crazy” by visiting fellow sisters who lived on the same floor in the motherhouse, creating their own “mini bubbles.” 

However, an October rise in COVID-19 cases across the state caused the Adrian Dominicans to test weekly instead of monthly. 

“Starting in October, we and coworkers have been tested every week,” Sr. Siemen said. “That’s when the new surge came. We made it safely through all of the beginning stages all through the summer.”

Because of the continued protocols, the sisters have not even been in the chapel for their colleagues’ funerals, watching the services via livestream instead. 

Those sisters are buried on the Dominican Motherhouse grounds, with hopes a more formal memorial can take place once larger gatherings are safe. 

Those who died were teachers, nurses and pastoral workers who spent decades in service to students and others in Metro Detroit and beyond, Sr. Sieman said. 

The sisters who died, many who were “already on their way to God,” have brought the entire community in closer solidarity with the countless others who have lost someone because of the pandemic, Sr. Sieman said.

“They were extraordinarily vulnerable to the disease,” Sr. Siemen said. “Having the deaths come with so many at the same time has really touched us deeply in a way, giving us a sense of solidarity with all the others who have lost loved ones. By the time COVID hit us, it was on us, and we didn’t have a time to grow into the feeling of loss and grief.” 

A news release from the Adrian Dominicans stated the Sisters received doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 15, along with more than 50 coworkers on campus. 

Since news of the tragedy, commemorations and messages of support have poured into the motherhouse, Sr. Siemen said, for which the entire community is grateful. 

“We’ve had such an outpouring of care and prayer and support over the last week to 10 days,” Sr. Siemen said. “It has been more than gratifying. When I open the mail, there is an outpouring from people whom the Sisters have taught, from colleagues in different areas we serve. 

“I received a letter today from a priest in the Saginaw diocese who had our sisters in school for 12 years,” Sr. Siemen continued. “He said, ‘I’m 87 years old, and the Adrian Dominicans are responsible for my vocation.’ He said his heart was broken when he read about the sisters, naming two of them who taught him in school. You read those kinds of tributes, and I’m just moved to gratitude and tenderness.”