(Mary Joan Robishaw… Joan… Sister Catherine Michael… Sister Joan. These are the names by which this Sister of Charity of Nazareth has been known. Now she is retired at the Nazareth Motherhouse, volunteering at the switchboard, assisting with liturgies and enjoying the simple life of a retired SCN. It is an honor to recount Sister Joan’s story.)
Mary Joan Robishaw was born April 1935 in Newburyport, Massachusetts to Mary Twomey and Henry Robishaw. Joan’s parents lived with Grandmother Mary Catherine Twomey, who was destined to play a vital part in Joan’s life. Joan ‘s early life is mainly connected to her mother. Her father was not present to them, but her Grandmother Twomey certainly was. It was she who cared for young Joan while her mother worked and supported them.
Sister Joan Robishaw
Joan’s mother made faithful efforts for her daughter to know her paternal relatives. Grandmother Fannie Robishaw lived in Ipswich, quite a train ride from Newburyport which Joan and her mother traveled frequently. Her grandmother, Fannie Robishaw, was born in Nova Scotia and Joan remembers her well. Joan also remembers her father and other Robishaw relatives.
Mary Robishaw, Sister Joan Robishaw’s mother
Grandmother Twomey had been born in County Cork, Ireland and when she came to America, settled in the Massachusetts area. She lived for a time in Lynn, MA in St. Theresa Home for Working Girls, at that time staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. She told Joan stories of those days and the kind Sisters she knew there. She even said to Joan. “Someday you will be a Sister, and you can be like Sister Mary Edward (Phelan), kind and caring.” (What a prediction!)
Sister Joan Robishaw dressed for her First Communion and standing with her grandmother, Mary Twomey
Joan’s mother had a brother, Michael Francis Twomey, who became important and dear to Joan. To this day she still keeps some of his letters, signed. “Your Uncle Mike,” or, “Your adopted Dad”.
The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth staffed Immaculate Conception Elementary and High School in Newburyport, and that is where Joan attended all twelve grades. (To my amazement Joan named all her teachers and even knew some of the Sisters’ family names! She also remembers her music teachers, one notable was Sister Regina Stickler, aunt of an SCN Associate friend.)
Sister Joan Robishaw’s high school graduation photo, 1952
She graduated from high school in the spring of 1952. Joan had not considered religious life but – invited by Sister James Mary Higgins to think about it – she made up her mind. When she spoke with her mother, Mary Robishaw asked if Joan could wait a year or if she would consider an order closer to home. Joan’s response was strong and sure. She needed to go at that time, and she knew the SCNs so that was God’s choice for her.
In September 1952, Joan left home, age seventeen, and entered the SCN novitiate in Wakefield, MA. There were ten postulants in the novitiate program, opened only two years before in Massachusetts. Sister Mary Rosine Callahan was the director but had many bouts of illness, so their program was not always tightly scheduled. The professed Sisters with Sister Velma (formerly Linus Mary) Roof as their superior gave the postulants understanding and support.
In early March 1953, the postulants traveled to Kentucky to join their other classmates and begin preparation for receiving the habit. On March 24th, Joan received the habit and a new name, Sister Catherine Michael. (Catherine was her grandmother’s middle name, Michael was her dear uncle’s name). Among the members of that class were Sisters Marilyn Shea, Mary Kathleen Sheehan, Phyllis Hannon, Kathleen Flaherty and Roberta Griffin.
Michael and Eva Twomey, Sister Joan Robishaw’s aunt and uncle
Novitiate life was not too difficult for Joan. What was difficult was that her dear grandmother died in September 1953. In those days, novices did not go home for funerals. A good remembrance is that Joan was allowed to visit periodically with a college student from Newburyport, Massachusetts. The young woman wanted to enter the novitiate upon graduation from high school, but her mother would not allow her to do so. She did, however, allow her daughter to accept a scholarship for Nazareth College at Nazareth. Joan’s visits seemed to strengthen the daughter’s resolve and she entered the novitiate soon after graduation from Junior College. She remained an SCN.
In March 1955, Joan made first vows and, after a few months at Nazareth and then summer school, went to St. Peter’s School in Lexington, Kentucky. She was assigned to teach the second grade, but “I didn’t know much,” Sister Joan recalls. A blessing to her growth as a teacher was the Diocesan supervisor who came and guided Joan in methods of teaching reading and the use of reading manuals. Joan soon became comfortable and adept at teaching reading. She was blessed to have Sister Regina Fidelis McMahon as her principal. During this time, Joan lived at Lexington Catholic High School, formerly St. Catherine Academy, with fifteen other Sisters who taught in three schools staffed by SCNs. The building served as a school for the high school students and a residence for the Sisters.
Joan’s next mission was St. Joseph School in Morganza, Maryland. The school had recently been integrated and so had a few African American students. She taught grades, one, two, and four at different times in the six years she remained there. In 1964, Joan was assigned to St. Mary School in Paris, Kentucky. Joan had all three primary grades her first year there… quite an overwhelming task. Joan managed it, however, and was relieved the next year to have only two grades. This was her final year in Paris and Joan was next missioned to St. Ann School in Wollaston, Massachusetts where she taught first grade. An important reason for her assignment there was that Joan and another Sister were able to attend college classes part-time at Boston State College, later connected to the University of Massachusetts. A benefit of this one-year stay at Wollaston was that Joan’s mother, Mary Robishaw, could pay a visit now and then.
In 1967-68 Joan was given the opportunity to study full-time at Catherine Spalding College to complete her bachelor’s degree in education. With her also studying were SCNs Anita Hayden and Maureen Rasche. They lived at Holy Family Convent and commuted to their classes.
This was the time when SCNs were discerning and seeking their ministries according to their talents and interests. Joan was contacted by the Provincial secretary, Sister Emiliana Cryan, to consider ministry at St. Edward School, Brockton, MA. Joan accepted and was assigned a challenging second grade. Sister Marie John Kelley was the principal and was very supportive. Joan finally agreed to learn to drive… a benefit for the house and for Joan to visit her mother in Newburyport. During the years she taught at St. Edward School, Joan also attended Boston University part time during the school year and in the summer semesters. In 1974, she received a Master of Education degree.
Sister Joan Robishaw with her mother, Mary Robishaw, 1977
After eight years in Brockton, Joan moved to Immaculate Conception School in Newburyport. It was here that Joan taught the fifth grade. This school was Joan’s alma mater. It must have been a blessing for Mary Twomey to have Joan right in the same city as herself.
In 1982 Joan’s ministry path took a different turn. At the suggestion of a supervisor of the school for the Archdiocese of Boston. she accepted a position as assistant principal at St. Agnes School in Arlington, MA. The principal was Sister Anne Nolan, CSJ, who was an excellent person with whom to share ministry responsibilities. For a time, SCN Ellen Paul McGovern also was in ministry at St. Agnes. That made it even more enjoyable to share this mission with an SCN Community member. Joan worked with teachers and students of all grades and felt privileged to be able to affirm teachers and students as well as be a help to them in other ways.
Sister Joan Robishaw with her mother, Mary Robishaw, 1983
It was during these years that Joan’s mother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, probably the result of secondhand smoke from the laundry coworkers where she worked for so many years. Sister Anne was most kind and understanding. She offered Joan her own home as a place to stay so Joan could be near her mother who was hospitalized in Boston. Anne lived in a suburb of Boston, a short distance from the hospital. In September, Joan’s mother was very ill and later passed away. After Mary’s death, Sister Anne welcomed Joan back to St. Agnes School without hesitation. Anne had kept the position of Assistant Principal open and waiting for Joan’s return. It is no wonder that Joan says with much sincerity, “This was my best mission experience.”
Sister Joan Robishaw, c. 1990
From September to December of 1993 Joan had a sabbatical experience at St. Stephen Priory in Dover, MA. This was a special time in Joan’ life. With a ministry team of several religious – men and women – and the guidance of a spiritual director, Joan felt she was given strength and comfort for many years to come.
In 1994, Joan went as an assistant principal to Gate of Heaven School in South Boston, MA. This only lasted one year since there were not enough duties to truly engage her talents and time.
Since 1985, Joan had been living in community with Sister Marie John Kelley, first in Saugus, MA, then in Wakefield, MA. In 1995, Joan accepted another assistant principal position, this time at Immaculate Conception School in Malden, MA. She was responsible for supervising grades five through eight. She continued to live in community with Sister Marie John while ministering in Malden.
After three years in Malden, Joan received a call from the SCN Community to serve in a Central Leadership position. In summer 1998, Sister Maria Vincent Brocato, newly elected President of the SCN Congregation, called Joan and invited her to consider accepting a role as Secretary of the Congregation. Joan gave it prayer and discernment and finally said, “Yes”. Her friend Marie John, remembering their breakfast treat together during Maria’s visit years before, quipped to her friend Maria Vincent, “You enjoyed the bran muffins made by Joan, now you want the baker.” Joan served as SCN Secretary for five years and did a very fine job.
In 2003, Joan returned to Wakefield, MA where she and Marie John lived. There Joan volunteered at St. Joseph School in the library or tutoring second graders.
Sister Joan Robishaw with her 1955 vow class on their Golden Jubilee in 2005
In 2010 Marie John suggested to Joan that it might be time for them to consider moving to Kentucky to live at Nazareth. And so it was. After a few years Marie John’s health began to fail, and she passed away at Nazareth Home on May 9, 2017 with Joan still a faithful friend and companion.
(This has been my blessing to share Joan’s story. As with her whole life, to be with Joan is to know where you are going and to have a clear direction. It was a delight, and I felt so privileged to know more about her life and God’s blessings to her. May our dear Joan continue to be blessed!)
Sister Joan Robishaw and Sister Marie John Kelley
Maria Vincent Brocato, SCN
March 2026