by Michelle Mondo and Jennifer R. Lloyd (M.B.A. ’16)
For then-teenage Grace Walle, what started as a fun, and ultimately failing, attempt to play pipe organ with her best friend Laura Leming at the Marianist Family Retreat Center in Cape May Point, New Jersey, transformed into a way of life and a lifelong career.
“I played the piano, and (the Marianist Brothers) were looking for someone to play the organ during services,” Walle said. “I told Laura it couldn’t be that different.”
Walle chuckles at a past moment that would mark an impactful turning point. The brothers invited Walle to commune with the Marianist sisters, formally known as the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. Last fall marked the 75th anniversary of the Marianist sisters, which both Walle and Leming, now an alumna and St. Mary’s University Trustee, joined. The two are among a number of Marianist sisters who have and continue to make an impact on campus.
Shared history
Sister and St. Mary’s Trustee Emerita Gretchen Trautman, F.M.I. (B.A. ’73), shared some of the history of the order. The Daughters of Mary Immaculate, or Fille de Marie Immaculée as the order originated in France, was formed in 1816. On Oct. 1, 1949, the order arrived in the U.S. when three Marianist sisters from Spain came to Somerset, Texas, welcomed by a Marianist priest and pastor of St. Mary’s Church. These three were soon joined by young women from as far away as Hawaii and New York. A Novitiate opened in Somerset in 1955.
In the next 10 years, the sisters were teaching in Somerset, Devine and San Antonio and had established the motherhouse Our Lady of the Pillar Convent, a few blocks from St. Mary’s University. At the dedication of the Convent, some young women mentioned how good it would be to come to retreats. This led to the opening of the Our Lady of the Pillar Retreat House in 1963. Today, the motherhouse is the St. Mary’s Counselor Education and Family Life Center, and the retreat house is the School of Law’s Center for Legal and Social Justice.
Becoming “Sister Grace”
Almost 50 years ago, Walle became “Sister Grace,” making her vows in the Retreat House, a structure that continues to be part of her life through her work with the School of Law. She not only graduated from St. Mary’s in 1978, but she also became a staff member and longtime Law Chaplain.
During her nearly 43 years with St. Mary’s University, Walle has inspired, served, taught and even fed, legions of students — see her peanut-butter-and-jelly station right outside her office in the Raba Building. The tradition has been passed along to other law schools by previous law students.
Walle sees it all as part of the Marianist mission. Walle has traveled all over the world in her work as a sister, but her greatest impact is on her home city and University.
“Educating leaders for the community good is essential,” she said. “San Antonio sees that. The city sees our students giving back in their jobs and on boards and volunteering as civic leaders.”
Her roster of former students includes not just lawyers but also judges, such as former Fourth Court of Appeals Chief Justice Alma Lopez (B.B.A. ’65, J.D. ’68), the first Hispanic woman on the court and to be elected chief justice of an appellate court in the United States.
“Educating leaders for the community good is essential.”
— Sister Grace Walle
Margaret “Maggie” Kleck, a research assistant and second-year J.D. student, helped Walle organize the annual Red Mass at San Fernando Cathedral in Fall 2024. Walle helped start the tradition at St. Mary’s, but the ceremony has history dating to the 13th century. The Mass marks the beginning of the judicial and academic year.
“Sister Grace embodies the Marianist spirit through her dedication to the students and linking community with service,” Kleck said. “She is a constant presence on campus and serves the students with welcome and a full heart. Her strong-willed personality motivates me to learn more about myself and my faith.”
Walle’s list of accomplishments and contributions could fill a book. All of it follows the characteristics of a Marianist education that has enriched her own life and the lives of the students. She feels she has come full circle, reaching milestones of her own, along with her friend, Leming, Ph.D. (B.A. ’79), who is also an Associate Professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio.
“As we celebrated the 75th year of the Marianist sisters in 2024, I can say I appreciate their pioneering spirit,” she said. “I always do things based on Marianist characteristics of education, and that forms all these other programs I help sponsor, and I always do it in community. While I provide pastoral care, all the events are sponsored in collaboration with others. The hospitality, the welcome and working in the community environment leads back to the Marianist spirit.”
Recognizing sisters in service
While Walle may be one of the more well-known faces of the Marianist sisterhood on campus, she’s far from the only woman making an impact through faith and service.
Sister Nicole Trahan, F.M.I., Ed.D. (M.A. ’02, M.A. ’11), is a newer addition to the team of University Ministry as Director of Marianist Initiatives and Special Projects. But she got to know St. Mary’s well during graduate school — earning master’s degrees in Catholic School Leadership and Pastoral Ministry at the University. Trahan also serves as the vocations director for the sisters across the United States, meeting with young women who are discerning whether the Marianist sisters might be part of their path in life.
Trahan’s newly created role at St. Mary’s will enable her to do formation work for students who hold leadership positions in Marianist-based organizations, and she’ll oversee a new internship program for students serving at the neighboring Holy Rosary Parish.
“I see the 75th as such an important milestone for us,” Trahan said. “We’ve been able to have an influence on Catholic education in this diocese and on life at the University, which I think is fairly significant, even though we’re pretty small in numbers.”
Leming said that in her continued relationship with St. Mary’s University, she feels that “what we’re doing here as a Hispanic-serving Institution in the southwest — the part of the Church that’s growing — is so important.”
“St. Mary’s is a gem,” Leming said. “I am really privileged to be tied to what’s going on here and happy that the Marianist sisters are still connected.”
