Anne Phyllis Ryan, SHCJ (M. M. Julian) Click here to e-mail Sr. Anne Phyllis
Sr. Anne Phyllis Ryan grew up in Havertown, Pa. She was born into a happy, close-knit family with her parents, Joseph and Ann Ryan and her younger brother, Robert. They were a musical family—her mother played the piano; her father, the saxophone; her brother, the horn, while she played the drums—and it was their tradition to create music together.
Since her early years in school and especially at West Catholic High School for Girls, of which she is a graduate, Sr. Anne Phyllis had come in contact with religious communities. During her high school career, she began to ask questions about entering religious communities. She felt drawn to the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) who taught Art, Religion, and History at West Catholic. She admired the Sisters for their fairness in how they treated students and for their excellent teaching. More and more she felt at home with the SHCJ, so she decided to make a spiritual retreat in Sharon Hill, Pa. She later talked to M. M. Felix, the Leader of the Society’s American Province at the time, about her vocation and was welcomed by her to live out her call with the SHCJ.
Teaching with Music
In 1936, the summer after her high school graduation, Sr. Anne Phyllis entered the Society and felt blessed to have M. M. Boniface as her Novice Director. She studied at Rosemont College where she majored in Latin. She later earned her master’s degree in theology from Villanova University and certificates in teacher training, guidance and adolescent psychology, and substance abuse counseling.
Sr. Anne Phyllis’ buoyant spirit found an outlet in composing songs and skits for feast days all through her religious life. During her teaching career at St. Edward’s and Assumption Schools in Philadelphia, Pa. and at St. Mary’s in Melrose, Mass., she often put her lessons to songs which made it easier for her students to learn all the needed materials.
God has been the joy of my life
Sr. Anne Phyllis had long desired to be a missionary in Africa, so in 1952 she was delighted to be assigned to Ifuho, Nigeria, as supervisor of primary schools. Later, she was principal of the teacher Training College in Ogoja, Nigeria and then became the principal when the Holy Child Secondary School evolved from the primary school. She brought music to Africa, too, including the direction of a prize-winning glee club in Ifuho.
Sr. Anne Phyllis’ love for Africa continues to this day. It was heartbreaking for her to have to leave when the Biafran War endangered the lives of Sisters serving there.
With the same vibrant spirit, however, Sr. Anne Phyllis returned to teaching in the United States—after spending two years in the Juniorate, which is when recently professed Sisters live community together while finishing their collegiate studies. She later went on to spend two years as Chair of the Religion Department at Hallahan High School in Philadelphia, Pa., and four years at West Catholic High School, her alma mater. She then spent 17 years at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor, Pa. as a religion teacher and a part-time guidance counselor. Her talent and love for creativity were also used in coaching plays and classroom entertainment as well as helping the students enact a prayerful Way of the Cross during Lent.
After 55 very active years, Sr. Anne Phyllis moved to Rosemont, Pa. to be of service at Holy Child Center, a retirement residence for the elderly and infirmed Sisters of the Holy Child. While the building was being renovated, she commuted each day, and in 1994 was able to move to the Main Building (located on the same campus as Holy Child Center) and serve as a Sacristan and Cantor at daily Mass. Since 2005, she has served as Assistant Sacristan.
I have had a very happy life and I have happy memories of the pupils I loved and taught in Africa and in the U.S. I am grateful, now that I am 90, for these years when I am learning to slow down and draw ever closer to the God who has been the joy of my life.”
Click here to contact Sr. Anne Phyllis Ryan (M. M. Julian).
