My parents gave birth to three girls and a boy, the first three in successive years: 1928, 1929, 1930, and the fourth in 1935. My older sister was named for my mother, Mary Leona. I am the second oldest, born on May 22, 1929. Since this is the feast of St. Rita, I was baptized Frances Rita. My brother was named for my father, George Augustus. Our youngest sister is Kathleen. We were all born in St. Anthony Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. It was owned by the Franciscan Sisters my aunt joined. My maternal grandmother, a saintly woman whom we loved dearly, lived with us, so our household numbered seven.

Leona (nee Buckman) and George Krumpelman’s engagement

My parents and maternal grandparents were married in St. Cecilia Parish in Louisville. One of its early pastors, Father William Mackin, was a cousin of my grandfather; so it was truly our parish and a significant part of our life. We were all baptized there.

George and Leona Krumpelman on their wedding day, April 14, 1926

My paternal great uncle, Lee Shultz, was my godfather. He was a dear man who had a grocery store on the very site of Mother Catherine Spalding’s orphanage at Wenzel and Jefferson Streets in Louisville.

Four generations: George Krumpelman (Sister Frances’ father), his mother, her father (Great Grandfather Disselkamp) holding Sister Frances’ hand and Mary Lea to his left

When I was six years old, I started to school at St. Cecilia, where my sister was a second-grader. My brother entered the first grade there the following year.

While I was in the first grade, learning the Ward Music Method along with the alphabet and the wonders of addition and subtraction, the baby of our family, Kathleen Maria, was born. Since she was the first baby we knew, we enjoyed the wonder she was and the excitement she brought to the family.

Frances off to the first grade at St. Cecilia School

Life was orderly and fulfilling: school, and church—my father was in the choir, visits with relatives who lived in Louisville, the activity of the neighborhood all filled and shaped our lives. We loved the SCNs at St. Cecilia School and the Canadian Resurrectionist priest who staffed the parish. Then suddenly, in January 1937, the Great Flood came roaring through our city and neighborhood. Our home had five and a half feet of water. For a short time, we went to St. Philip Neri School and Church, but eventually returned to St. Cecilia and our cleaned and repaired home. During the short time we were at St. Philip Neri, my brother and I made our First Communion together and were confirmed the following day.

George and Frances on the occasion of their First Communion, March 16, 1937

Frances with her godparents, Great Uncle Lee Shultz and her maternal grandmother, Mary Buckman, on the day of her First Communion, May 16, 1937

In 1940, my father’s company asked him to go to Carrollton, Kentucky, temporarily to take responsibility for their distribution center of petroleum products. The small town, the two-room school with so few children, the German Sisters and pastor all contrasted sharply with St. Cecilia, a school of about 1,000 students. I remember that we laughed a lot and waited for the day we would return to Louisville—which we never did. The following year, World War II broke out in December and lasted almost four years. We finished grade school and began high school under the cloud of the War’s fear and rationing.

Carrollton had no Catholic high school. After two years in the public school, my older sister and I were enrolled in the Academy at Nazareth, Kentucky, after my parents had visited it. It was a joy to have SCN teachers again and to be in a Catholic school. My brother went to St. Xavier High School in Louisville and stayed with one of our paternal aunts.

Frances with her parents, George and Leona, the day she graduated from Nazareth Academy, June 1947

A couple of years after graduation in 1946, my older sister married Elmer Moorman and spent the rest of her life in Carrollton. September 24, 1947, a few months after graduating from the Academy, I entered the Novitiate at Nazareth. We made First Vows in March 1950, and I was sent to teach at Most Blessed Sacrament School, Louisville. We lived at St. Helena Convent with about fifty SCNs, some of whom we had been with in the Novitiate. My parents loved my being in Louisville, since they could easily visit. I was equally happy to be near them and in my hometown.

Sister Frances Krumpelman the day she made perpetual vows, July 19, 1953

In July 1953, we made Perpetual Vows, and I was assigned to St. Raphael School, Hyde Park, Massachusetts. This assignment so shocked me that I could not eat for three days. It seemed like going to the end of the earth. My whole family came to the train station to say goodbye. I was too busy teaching seventy fifth-grade boys to notice when culture shock finally gave way to enjoyment of the mysteries of Boston and especially seeing the ocean for the first time. My five years in Hyde Park were followed by five years in Memphis at Holy Names of Jesus and Mary School, a stark but interesting contrast to the Boston culture and climate.

Sister Frances Krumpelman’s parents, George and Leona, recreating their wedding photo on their 25th wedding anniversary

In 1963, I was surprised to be sent back to Most Blessed Sacrament, Louisville, to teach the 8th grade and to finish my AB (artium baccalaureus or, Bachelor of Arts) degree. The Second Vatican Council was in its second year. The following year, I was assigned to St. Vincent Academy in western Kentucky, a truly unique setting and experience for me. The academy was one of our oldest and situated on an active farm. I taught Latin, French, and Religion. After one year, I was sent to St. Jerome, Fancy Farm, and then to Owensboro Catholic High, a total of seven years in the Owensboro Diocese, during which Vatican II radically changed the Church, the parishes, Catholic homes, and our Congregation. During this time, I began summer study for an MA (Master of Arts) in Theology. It was “cutting edge” Vatican II theology. Each summer was like a prolonged retreat, complete with the new liturgical rites, prayers, language.

Sister Frances Krumpelman wearing the first substitute for the white cap of the SCN habit, the veil and crescent, 1963

If the renewal was to be understood and embraced, families, teachers, and students needed to learn the new theology and rites, the new studies in Scripture. Since teaching adults seemed more urgent than teaching religion in high school, I left the classroom, and with a team of SCNs in Louisville, began the parish ministry of education in the theology of Vatican II. SCNs of our team trained teachers, met with parents, set up theology sessions for adults. These sessions were experiential as well as academic. People responded whole-heartedly, and we sometimes wore ourselves out working day and night, at times even on weekends. Excitement was in the air as Vatican II was taking root. SCN community changes came quickly and regularly. Pope John XXIII had truly “opened the windows” of the Church, and of our hearts and minds.

Sister Frances Krumpelman with no veil and wearing one of her first “design-your-own” outfits post Vatican II

On June 1, 1973, my father died suddenly of an aneurysm; five years later, my mother moved to Nazareth Home where she lived for eight years. Her gratitude for her years there was overwhelming, as was ours, that of my sisters and brother.

I continued religious education with adult groups and scheduled the retreats at Nazareth for a few years. Then I was asked to go to Austin, Texas, to serve temporarily as Diocesan Director of Religious Education. Just living in Texas was an experience. My brother spent his entire Air Force career in Texas, so he was delighted that I would get to know it also.

From Texas, I went to Rome, Italy, for a one-year study sabbatical at the Jesuit Gregorian University and Biblicum. When I said good-bye to my mother, she took my hand in hers and said, “With this hand, shake hands with the Pope, and when you return, put it again into mine.” I did. That year of study and touring Rome was an extraordinary privilege in every way. One of the courses included a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a life-changing event.

Sister Frances Krumpelman shaking hands with Pope John Paul II in Rome, 1985

When I returned from Rome, I accepted a position as Assistant Director of the Religious Education Office in Evansville, Indiana. Living with the Daughters of Charity was an education in the more basic Rule of St. Vincent de Paul. Being this close to Louisville enabled me to visit with my mother each week.

Mother died in 1986. We had her funeral at Nazareth Home and she is buried beside my father in St. Michael Cemetery just north of Eastern Parkway in Louisville. George was responsible for executing the will and selling our home in Carrollton. He said to me, “Our home is now your home,” and I was warmly welcomed into his home and family in Louisville. They truly made me one with them.

Siblings: Frances, George, Kathleen, and Mary Lea

I was then invited to assist one of the professors at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, with her work of writing the biography of Godfrey Diekmann, OSB. This one-year commitment lasted six years. Being steeped in the history of the liturgical renewal from the late nineteenth century through Vatican II built on the foundation I had received in studying for the degree in theology with its concentration on liturgy. Living in Chicago provided many cultural activities and a daily drive along Lake Shore.

I returned to Nazareth and was asked to replace temporarily the SCN who served in the Surgery Waiting Room at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington. I did that, commuting from Nazareth. Shortly after I arrived, I was asked to write the hospital’s history—founded in 1877 by our Community. My knowledge of the medical world was negligible to non-existent, but I accepted the challenge and moved to Lexington. The research and writing were inspiring; our Sisters, doctors, nurses, former and current employees were helpful in teaching me, answering questions, telling me stories. One elderly doctor showed me surgical instruments he had invented.

The completion of the book coincided with the need for someone to care for Heritage Hall at Nazareth. I was chosen for this. What a privilege! This led to more research, writing, telling visitors about SCN history and our buildings here. Every day is a new and rewarding experience. Living at Nazareth is grace untold. Since our parents first brought us here, in 1944, to see the place, my love and devotion to all Nazareth is and symbolizes has deepened and grown. The multitude of SCNs here, Father James McGee, beloved chaplain for many years, dedicated and efficient employees, all enrich our lives in God and enable us to serve others in multiple ways.

Sister Frances Krumpelman autographing the 1912-1924 volume of SCN history, 2011

For all eternity, I shall thank God for my family and extended family, the SCN Congregation, the ministry God has given me and helped me to accomplish, the spiritual gifts of prayer, sacraments, God’s own companionship through my many years of ministry and holy adventures.

Frances Krumpelman, SCN

January 2023