The second ‘small world’ instance came Sunday at lunch. We were visiting a colleague of Paul’s whom he worked with when he taught math at Wellwood Jr. High 1973-1975. John Loosmann and his wife, Marian, are also LeMoyne alums, graduating in ’64 and ’65 respectively.
During our lunch discussion we told the story of meeting Gaie and learning about an annual IH reunion. Marion shared that she was a member of IH at LeMoyne when Berrigan was the leader. She was the first woman to do a summer outreach visit, though she was denied permission to go to Mexico because it would not be seemly for young men and young women to work together in such an environment. She searched out a women’s’ group doing mission work in Baja, Mexico and spent several weeks there teaching catechism.
On her way back from Baja, Marian planned to join up with other LeMoyne students who were making their way to New Orleans as part of the civil rights push. The original group from LeMoyne abandoned their trip before making New Orleans, so Marian connected with only one or two others and was advised to head home as soon as she could. If you saw the recent special on the Freedom Riders on PBS, you know the tenor of the time.
Thank you, Karen!
