Sister Emmanuel Cardinale

By Michele Jurich
Staff Writer

When the Class of 2011 graduates from St. Michael School, it will mark the end of an era.

When Father Patrick Power built the school on the Livermore site in 1913, he asked the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael to staff it.

The sisters have maintained a faithful presence for 98 years, even as their numbers dwindled. The last one is Sister Emmanuel Cardinale, who has served as principal for 30 years.

Tim Hooke, a teacher at Holy Rosary School in Antioch, will become principal on July 1. He is also a graduate of Holy Rosary, which is a school in the Dominican tradition.

In those early years, Sister Emmanuel said, the sisters mostly taught school, but other opportunities opened up after Vatican II, after which the sisters taught Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and worked with senior citizens in the parish.

“Our ministry spread out over the years,” said Sister Emmanuel.

What the sisters leave behind, Sister Emmanuel said, are the strong teaching of the Gospel message and the support of families. “In the times we live in, lots of support for families is needed,” she said.

Sister Timothy Anne Daly, CSJ, teaches at the school, and will also leave the campus.
In the beginning, the convent, school and rooms for boarders from outlying areas were all in one building.

In the past, an administrator might serve for six years; after Vatican II, longer tenures became possible.

When Sister Emmanuel came to St. Michael as a teacher in 1972, there was a sister in every classroom. She served as principal from 1973 to 1979, then left to serve as principal for nine years at St. Isabella School in San Rafael. She returned to the classroom at St. Michael in 1988, and was asked by Monsignor Robert Adams to take on the role of principal the following year. She has served in that capacity ever since.

Sister Emmanuel, who began teaching in the Diocese of Stockton in 1964, will return to the motherhouse in San Rafael and await her next assignment.

She described her last graduates as a very special, supportive class, well prepared for their next adventures in education. “I wish them Godspeed,” she said.

When the school celebrates its 100th birthday in 2013, the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael will be part of the activities. The celebration is among Sister Emmanuel’s future projects. “I’ll be working on that process,” she said.

Principals at St. Michael

All but one of the principals at St. Michael School in Livermore were members of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael.

Sister M. Laurentia Curtis, 1913-1914
Sister M. Xavier Ribzinski, 1914-1920
Sister M. Monica Dutra, 1920-1926
Sister M. Teresa Winsor, 1926-1929
Sister M. Monica Dutra, 1929-1932
Sister M. Dorothea Molloy, 1932-1935
Sister M. Amara Koch, 1935-1935
Sister M. Fidelis McGrory, 1935-1938
Sister M. Matthew McMannus, 1938-1939
Sister M. Basil Flannigan, 1939-1941
Sister M. Raphael Hooley, 1941-1943
Sister M. Stella Reilly, 1943-1945
Sister M. Alice Hart, 1945-1951
Sister M. Eleanor Beardsley, 1951-1953
Sister M. Agnes McLean, 1953-1959
Sister M. Laura Bray, 1959-1965
Sister M. Judith Vaughan, 1965-1966
Sister M. Bartholomew Herlihy, 1966-1973
Sister M. Emmanuel Cardinale, 1973-1979
Sister Bernice Garcia, 1979-1985
Mrs. Cynthia Puppione, 1985-1989
Sister M. Emmanuel Cardinale, 1989-2011

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