Ida Mary MacAulay, CSJP (1941-2022)

As an accomplished musician, teacher, and faithful and faith-filled member of our community, it is inevitable that we equate the final movement of Beethoven’s last symphony with the life of Sister Ida Mary MacAulay. She was filled with a joyful serenity and radiated it out in her quiet way to all whom she taught, met, and lived with. Joy was the hallmark of her life.

Sister Ida Mary was born on May 29, 1925, to Angus and Ida (Julien) MacAulay in Silverton, British Columbia, Canada. She was the youngest of five children. Her siblings – Mary, Jean, Bruce, and Louis – all preceded her in death. She grew up in Rossland, British Columbia, where the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace owned Mater Misericordiae Hospital. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in Bellingham, Washington, on July 17, 1945, and was accepted into the Novitiate on February 2, 1946. Sister Ida Mary became a naturalized American citizen in 1953.

Sister Ida Mary’s ministry in Western Washington, California and British Columbia began when she was a second-year novice. Until 1960, she taught music only. But, with a change in policy,  Sister Ida Mary began a long career in general classroom teaching that lasted another 20 years. In 1976, she returned to her first love of teaching music and reveled in that for the next 12 years.

While music, teaching music, and producing musicals were a part of Sister Ida Mary’s DNA, a brief reflection that she wrote on her last days of teaching in the Learning Assistance Program at Woodmoor Elementary School in Bothell, Washington, significantly defines Sister Ida Mary’s joyful and compassionate service. In part, she wrote: “ While this has been very challenging, it has been very rewarding also, since I enjoy working with children and can see the tremendous  benefit of individual attention.” 

Sister Ida Mary had words of encouragement for everyone. Even in her retirement years at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, she was more than willing to give individual lessons to anyone who was interested in music. Sister Ida Mary died a few days short of her 97th birthday, yet one of her last efforts to spread the joy, love and knowledge of music was to reach out to a caregiver who just wanted to learn how to play “Happy Birthday” on the keyboard.