Sister Fabian Garrett, OSB papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains general biographical information as well as personal papers. Biographical information includes ministry lists, jubilee and funeral materials, diplomas, a note on her birth from the Kansas State Historical Society, nearest of kin information, photographs, teaching certifications, prayer cards (one of which is autographed by her grandmother) and more.
Personal papers reflect Sister Fabian's 25 years of service as an educator, her work as an "emergency" administrator at the Saint Joseph Convent community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and her various other ministries and roles in community. Sister's leadership style is reflected in her reflections on Tulsa, as well as in her correspondence.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1914-2005
Creator
- Garrett, Fabian, 1933-2005 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Sisters' papers are restricted for 50 years after the Sister's death. Photographs, previously published, and widely distributed materials are unrestricted.
Biographical / Historical
Sister Fabian Garrett, OSB was born Josephine Mary on January 6th, 1914 in Osborne, Kansas to a farming family. She entered the community on September 7th, 1932, making her final profession on August 16th, 1937.
Sister Fabian earned degrees from Saint John University in Collegeville, Minnesota, Loyola and DePaul Universities in Chicago, and the Mind Control Institute in Texas. She taught in several schools in Illinois and Colorado, serving as principal at Saint Scholastica High School Chicago for seven years, and at Saint Scholastica Academy in Canon City, Colorado for eight years. She also served as an administrator to the Benedictine community at Saint Joseph Convent in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1967-1969, appointed personally by the Holy See.
After her retirement from teaching, Sister managed the maintenance of the buildings and grounds of the Chicago monastery, notably investing in a variety of dwarf fruit trees. Sister also aided in a community program to sponsor Vietnamese refugee families in Chicago. Her nickname was Sister Fabulous, used affectionately by helpers around the monastery.
Sister Fabian died on March 5th, 2005, and is buried at the All Saints Cemetery in Illinois.
Extent
.26 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
- Title
- A Guide to Sister Fabian Garrett, OSB papers
- Author
- Clara Finkelstein
- Date
- 2025-10-08
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago Archives Repository
Archives
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
7430 N. Ridge Blvd.
Chicago Illinois 60645 United States
(773) 764-2413 ext. 203
archives@osbchicago.org
