Sister Alice Marie Goularte, MM

Born: August 28, 1911
Entered: December 24, 1935
Died: September 24, 2006

On Sunday, September 24, 2006, at 9:15 pm, accompanied by many Sisters, Sister Alice Marie Goularte, died peacefully in our Maryknoll  Residential Care III. Sister was 95 years of age and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 71 years. We rejoice with her today, as she is now enjoying the fullness of life with her God whom she served so faithfully.

Alice Rose was born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on August 28, 1911, of Susie Soares Goularte and Anthony Goularte. She had two sisters, Grace and Mayme. Her father died when she was ten years old. Her mother later remarried, and the family moved to California where Alice graduated from San Benito County High School, Hollister, in 1939. She was active in the Children of Mary Sodality and the Little Flower Literary Circle in the parish of San Juan Bautista, serving as the Secretary of the former in 1931 and Vice President and Secretary of the latter from 1930-1933.

Alice entered Maryknoll on December 24, 1935, from San Juan Bautista Parish, Fresno, California. At Reception she was given the religious  name of Sister Alice Marie. She made her First Profession of Vows on June 30, 1938, at Maryknoll, New York, and her Final Profession of Vows on June 30, 1941, also at Maryknoll.

Sister Alice Marie obtained a Teachers Certificate from Maryknoll Teachers Training School in 1941 and later a Bachelors in Education degree in 1946 from Maryknoll Teachers College. In 1941 she was assigned to Los Angeles, California, where she taught elementary school for one year. Sister was assigned to Hawaii in 1942 where for the next twenty-five years she taught in the following primary schools: St. Augustine, Waikiki, until 1946; St. Anthony, Wailuku, until 1956; and St. Ann, Kaneohe, until 1967.

In 1967, Sister Alice Marie was assigned to the U.S. Western Region and lived in Los Angeles, California, where she taught fifth grade in the Maryknoll School for Japanese. In 1986, she received an award from the school in recognition of her nineteen years of service.

Sister retired from active ministry in 1987 and did tutoring as well as part-time teaching to the Filipinos and Hispanics at Precious Blood School in Los Angeles, California. When asked about her mission work she would say, “In my opinion teaching is one of the most important apostolates. In my teaching I reach people, children and their parents who are very poor spiritually. It is the only successful way to contact non-Christian parents… I share God’s love with these Japanese  children and their parents.” After 54 years of dedicated service in teaching, she officially retired in 1995 at the age of 83.

Sister Alice Marie returned to the Center in 1995 because of a decline in health and was assigned to the Main House Community and later to Residential Care. She continued her teaching ministry through her prayer ministry, which was praying for the Los Angeles Schools.

Sister Alice Marie spoke fondly of her years of teaching, and how she wished she could return to her beloved children. She told stories of her students and said they loved her very much and she loved them back. She spoke often about Little Billy who was mischievous and one of his impish acts was to hide under the building rather than go to the  principal’s office where she had sent him. Of these accounts she said to Sister Sue Baldus, they are not stories but the truth. Sister loved teaching and took great pride in being a good teacher. She said teaching children was the best thing that she ever could have done. “I was good at it because I loved it and the children knew it.”

Truly appropriate is the reading of today’s Gospel from Mark 10:13-16: “Let the children come to me; do not stop them. It is to just such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Surely, Sister Alice Marie was welcomed by many children in God’s Kingdom.

Our gratitude and condolences go to the Maryknoll Residential Care Staff III for their loving care of our Sister Alice Marie.

We offer our condolences to Sister’s family and friends.

We welcome our Maryknoll Father Clyde Phillips who will celebrate the Liturgy of Christian Burial.