Sister M. Alberta Lawless’ roots grow deep in the soil of the Springfield Dominican story. Six other members of her family also joined the congregation, including her sister, Sister Rene Lawless, and two aunts, Sisters Maureen and Edmund Flynn. The first Springfield Dominican in the family was her great aunt, Sister Augusta Gougherty, who join the sisters in 1883, when the congregation marked its first decade in Illinois. Sister Augusta’s sister used to bring fresh eggs and produce to the founding sisters from her family farm in rural Morgan County. For all these reasons, it is a special gift for Sister M. Alberta to celebrate her 75th anniversary of profession during the 150th Anniversary year of the community.
Deeply committed to Catholic education, Sister M. Alberta has given her entire life to elementary and secondary education in Illinois. “I always wanted to be a teacher. I love education," she said. "I love everything about it. I’m an educator at heart.”
She taught in elementary schools for the first 15 years of profession in central Illinois and Chicago metro. She was a pioneer at St. Bernadette School, Evergreen Park; Sacred Heart School, Granite City; and St. Frances Cabrini School, Springfield. After a year of study, she graduated to secondary education, teaching home economics at Rosary High School, Aurora, then serving as principal of Marian Catholic, Chicago Heights. After three years as principal of Alleman High School, Rock Island, she joined the staff at Sacred Heart Academy, her alma mater, where, over a period of 21 years she served as registrar and worked in the computer lab. She continues volunteering in the Mission Advancement office at SHG, and is an avid genealogist and a talented painter.
Sister Alberta's parents Joseph and Edith Lawless and two sisters, Marianne Kaufmann and Sister M. Rene, are deceased. Her brother Joe lives in Jacksonville, Ill., and her sister, Sister Patricia Lawless, OSC, in Cambridge, NY.
Want to support our Jubilarians?
Click the button to make a secure online donation to honor one of our sisters celebrating 25, 50, or 60 years of vowed life. Your gift today helps our sisters change lives with their prayer, preaching, wisdom, and encouragement for all they encounter.
Congratulations, dear Sr. Alberta! You have NO idea how you have transformed my life! You hired a very young, innocent but determined me way back in 1977…and you have been central to my life ever since! You taught me how to be a leader, how to trust myself, how to focus on goals, and how to be the best me I could. Then you went and found me my husband! We were so happy and every year, on our anniversary, we thanked God for you in our lives.
And now you are a dear friend…for 45 years! You have shared my successes as well as my losses. I honestly would not be the woman I am today without your presence in my life! I celebrate you every day, but especially today! Please know that your life has so enriched mine. All love and prayers,
Wishing you a joyous jubilee Sr. Alberta! Your leadership at Marian was remarkable. I truly appreciated the focus on how our behaviors both on and off the campus was a reflection on the school. Thank you so much for all your support of each department to provide the highest quality education for the students. Some of my fondest memories are because of the environment you cultivated.
Congratulations to you Sister M. Alberta!
Congratulations on your 75 Year Jubilee, Sister Alberta! So many staff and students have benefitted from your knowledge and leadership. Thank you very much for your service to Catholic education.
Dear Sr. Alberta,
Congratulations on your 75th Jubilee. Many thanks for your presence in my life (kindergarten and beyond) and many blessings! You have touched so many hearts and souls! ❤️
Congratulations Sr Alberta on your 75th Jubilee. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you these past several years. Continue your good works.
Dear Sister Alberta –
Congratulations on your Jubilee! And, thank you for so many years of service to the Church and to Catholic education. Your friendship with my parents was one of their great treasures. Your support for me and my siblings as we worked our way through Marian and beyond has influenced our lives in ways known and unknown.
We love you and wish you a beautiful year of celebration.
Marty Loesch
Dear Sister Mary Alberta,
Our parents, Connor and Anne Loesch loved Catholic education, Marian Catholic, and the Springfield Dominicans. They had the utmost respect for you and your leadership. Thank you for your dedication to the precious little ones that Christ loves so dearly.
Sincerely
Carl Loesch and Marie Harrer MCHS ’86
Dear Sister Mary Alberta,
Congratulations on your 75th Jubilee!
Sincerely
Ed Brown MCHS Premier Class 62
Dear Sister Alberta,
Thank you for your 75 years of religious service to the many communities you served. You were always a friendly face as I passed you in the halls of Rosary High School and in your home economics class I was a part of! Rosary was lucky to have you as part of their family.
Blessings to you,
Sarah Feltes Stride
Class of 1974
Dear Sr. Alberta,
Congratulations on your Jubilee! First, thank you for your years of service. I have known you for nearly 2/3 of these 75 years. I have watched you- first “close up ” at Marian and then from a bit more of a distance. Your unwavering dedication, positive spirit, personal drive, and sheer brilliance have been an inspiration to me as I have traveled through my life and career. I have often spoken of you as my ideal administrator in clinics that I have presented to other band directors across the country.
Also, I would like to offer my personal thank you for all that you have meant to me. First, thank you for guiding, focussing, teaching, and especially believing in me when I was a young teacher. Thank you for supporting that small, but ever growing band program. Thank you, too, for setting a standard by which I could always adjust my “personal compass”. Finally, thank you for always being my friend.
Much love and God’s very best blessings to you!
Greg Bimm (Marian Catholic 1977-2023)
Dear Sister Alberta, much love to you on your dedication and fruitful ministry of 75 years. May your Jubilee be full of joy!
JoAnn, Colleen, Pat and Maureen Kane
My Dear Sister Mary Alberta,
You were always my favorite teacher. You taught many life skills in Home Economics that have carried me through many practical life experiences as an individual and as a mother. Working under your guidance to create our Rosary year books was one of the many things I enjoyed in high school. You were an excellent teacher and always a good friend. I do not know what I would have done without your emotional support when my parents divorced. I will always feel a special connection to you, my friend. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me. I love you, my friend. You deserve to celebrate a lifetime of service. It is well deserved. God Bless you, Sr. Alberta!❤️
Congratulations, Sister Alberta, from one of your students at Rosary High School, class of 1968. I hope you know the life-long affection and respect you engendered in all the girls you taught at Rosary. You always made learning fun and always showed us so much love. These things were never forgotten and I am now 72 years old! Such happy memories of your teaching will always remain in my heart.
Sr. Alberta, congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment. You have been such an inspiration to our whole family. We loved having you at all the SHG football pregame meals when Matt and his classmates were playing football. I think your presence and prayers to the big guy upstairs helped them to accomplish their back to back state football championships. Your prayers with their special talent made their success so humbling. I still have my gold and black mittens you made me and I think fondly of all our memories with you during those years at SHG. I also think of you each spring as we were always in competition to see who saw the 1st hummingbird on our feeders. I hope God blesses you with many more years of good health and happiness. God broke the mold when he made you. You are one of a kind!! Thank you for touching my life and my whole family’s life. We will forever cherish those memories. Enjoy your celebration!
Dear Sr. Alberta, Congratulations! I can’t wait till you can come for a visit. As the saying goes, “Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarden.” Love and miss you!
JoAnne Ashcraft
Sr Alberta: Congratulations! 75 years and still going strong. Always great to see you at SHG and expecially at all of the sporting events that you somehow find time to attend!
Congratulations Sr. Alberta! WOW! 75 years and still at it. I enjoy seeing you around and our conversations. Enjoy your Jubilee celebration!
Congratulations Sr. Alberta! I am a junior at SHG and we love having you here! I was in Mamma Mia last Spring and loved seeing how much you love our musicals. Your hard work will never go unnoticed.
Congratulations from your friend in Southern California! I hope you are doing well and enjoying life.
Dear Sr. M. Alberta: Congratulations on your Seventy-Fifth Jubilee! What a marvelous witness of fidelity and service! May God continue to bless you and all the Springfield Dominicans during this anniversary year.
Sister Alberta: It was such a joy to meet you last November at Rosary High School’s all-school reunion. Thank you for making the trip! I loved hearing the stories from the Rosary alumnae of the lessons they learned from you. And I loved that you were following the SHG football game throughout the day! Your dedication and outlook on life are an inspiration to all!