Longtime principal, last nun to live in Butler convent, dies
Sister John Ann Mulhern would end every school day by reading the announcements and seldom signed off before advising the young students of Butler Catholic School to do something nice for their parents when they got home.
Although to the students her direction may have seemed like a command, teachers and parents who worked alongside Mulhern said her words all came out of a love and respect for the pupils at the school.
Carol Dorcy, a middle school math and social studies teacher at Butler Catholic, said Mulhern made it a point to learn every student’s name so she could work with their specific needs to mold them into good Samaritans.
As the last nun to ever live at the convent at Butler Catholic School, the job was her life and her home.
“School was number one to her. That was her family, her life. She lived here,” Dorcy said. “She knew who needed a little bit more kindness and warmth and who needed prodded along and pushed because they weren't living up to their best expectations.”
Mulhern, who retired from Butler Catholic School in 2023 after serving as principal for 20 years, died Friday, Feb. 13, at age 84.
Mulhern began her teaching career in 1961, when many of her latest students’ grandparents were students themselves. After leaving St. Bonaventure for Butler Catholic in 2003, Mulhern oversaw numerous changes and milestones at the school, including the school beginning to enroll 3- and 4-year-olds in 2004, the return of an all-school play, the founding of a forensics club, the school’s 50th anniversary in 2019 and many more.
Before retiring at the end of the 2023 school year, Mulhern said she enjoyed her time at the school and planned to carry on its legacy however she could in retirement.
“I am grateful for my time here at Butler Catholic,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it and feel very blessed.”
Dorcy, who has taught at Butler Catholic for 37 years, worked with Mulhern for her entire 20 years as principal of the school. Dorcy said she still remembers the first time she met Mulhern, which was during the summer before her first year at Butler Catholic. While Dorcy noted Mulhern seemed sad to leave her previous job at St. Bonaventure, she still brought a warmth to the role that was reassuring to her and the rest of the staff.
“I can just remember how warm and kind and the big smile on her face; and I thought to myself, our school is going to be great,” Dorcy said.
Mulhern’s first year at Butler Catholic was also the year Brenda Grenci’s oldest child began attending the school. Mulhern retired one year before Grenci’s youngest child would graduate from the school.
Grenci said it was Mulhern who convinced her and her husband to send their children to Butler Catholic School instead of other options in the area they were considering.
“She just had great vision and such great faith and such great plans for the school and we wanted to be part of that,” Grenci said.
Another parent also spent years with Mulhern as his children’s principal at the school. Tom Martin said the news that Mulhern died hit his whole family hard because she had helped his four children get out of their comfort zone and to try new things.
“The school play and forensics were huge to my kids,” Martin said. “They are very well-spoken public speakers, very confident because of sister. She convinced kids to do things that they never would have done.”
Grenci and Martin also said Mulhern made weekly phone calls to the school community in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic meant students couldn’t attend school in person. Every Friday afternoon, the phone would ring and Mulhern would speak to the school community as if she were giving the end-of-day announcements.
“She would discuss things, things going on and always wishing the kids well and giving the update,” Martin said. “The kids would get to hear her even home from school during COVID.”
It was those type of efforts that helped students learn that, although Mulhern was “no nonsense” and “strict,” it was all in an effort to educate them.
“She was strict with the kids, but never beyond what was needed,” Grenci said. “She wanted these kids to achieve. If the expectation was to perform at a certain level, she said we can do better.”
Dorcy said as students got older and spent more time at the school with Mulhern, they came to understand her approach and some of the method behind her decisions.
According to Dorcy, each morning would begin with a meeting between Mulhern and the teachers, who prayed and then discussed daily updates for the school. She said this helped her learn more about Mulhern’s methods as well.
“I think the kids were intimidated by her because there were rules, but they also loved her,” Dorcy said. “Any decision I would come to her with, she said, ‘Let's see what the kids need.’”
Dorcy said Mulhern was as involved with parents as much as she was with the students. Aside from the weekly announcements inside and outside of the COVID era, Mulhern would be at every sporting event and extracurricular activity to support the school. She even played piano at performances and masses.
Martin said he took note of Mulhern’s attitude toward education and faith, saying that she “lived and breathed Butler Catholic School.” Martin said he got to see her for dinner about a week before she died, which is a memory he will cherish.
“She pushed Catholic school students to be the best person of themselves and built it all around a Christ-centered lifestyle,” Martin said. “She did that with adults too.”
