Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
December 4, 2002
'Like Nun Other': Sister Rosemary Keegan publishes memoir
Nun who survived brutal attack writes inspirational story of survival, faith
By Roxanne King
If you've never met the indomitable Loretto Sister Rosemary Keegan, now you can —through her delightful book "Like Nun Other."
And if you're lucky enough to know the spirited Irish nun whose courageous survival of a hammer blow to the head 21 years ago inspired people throughout the Denver-area and beyond, you'll enjoy hearing her stories once again — and maybe even learn things you didn't know about "Red Rosie."
Both moving and funny, "Like Nun Other" is a must read for anyone who likes memoirs, inspirational reading or books on Catholic life. It also would be good for those who work with the disabled.
The book is co-written with Fara Kearnes, author of "The Chapel on the Rock: The Story of Camp St. Malo and St. Catherine of Siena Chapel."
Kearnes met Sister Keegan two years ago, when a friend suggested she write a play about the nun and her longtime caregiver, Bonnie Castleberry. The idea was to model it after the Pulitzer Prize-winning play and hit movie "Driving Miss Daisy." It was to be called "Pushing Sister Rosemary."
"I didn't have time to write a play, but after I finished 'Chapel' Sister gave me a manuscript she had started in the `80s and I felt it would make a good book," Kearnes said. "What she had written was good to go. It really covered in detail the attack, the trial and the start of her rehabilitation. When I came in, I wanted to get the numerous stories about her high school days and her early days in the convent."
Describing the nun as "a hoot" Kearnes laughed as she listed some of the chapter titles: "Orthopedic Shoes Don't Come in Red" (the nun's favorite color), "Failing the Psycho Tests" and "Where to Find a Coke Machine at the Vatican."
Sister Keegan helped to create Head Start, a preschool program for low-income children, and in 1965 opened the first Head Start program in the nation in Denver. When she entered her North Denver office the morning of Nov. 17, 1981, she surprised a burglar who brutally attacked her and left her for dead. She survived with some brain damage and paralysis on one side of her body.
Her account of the attack is direct and chilling, but true to form, Sister Keegan found humor in it — and faith. Msgr. C.B. "Father Woody" Woodrich arrived before the paramedics did. Sister Keegan writes: "I never found out how Woody learned of my attack and how he got there so quickly that day. I just remember that as a child my mother insisted that my brother and I always had pinned in our coats a Sacred Heart badge with the printed inscription, 'I am a Catholic. In case of an accident please call a priest.' Now it seems all those years of carrying the badge paid off. When I really needed a priest, there he was."
Sister Keegan believes she survived the attack because she had just come from morning Mass and still had the Eucharistic Presence within her.
Of her survival she writes, "It was a miracle."
A year after the attack, self-described prescription drug forger William Loggins was convicted on six counts, including attempted first-degree murder and robbery. Evidence showed he had broken into the facility to steal Food Stamps. He is serving a 33-year sentence in Canon City.
Sister Keegan forgave Loggins and prays for him daily.
"Her ability to forgive, her high spirit, her upbeat, positive outlook on life, her faith — those are the things that inspire me about her," Kearnes said.
Sister Keegan writes unflinchingly about disliking being paralyzed, about the helplessness the disabled feel when they can't do the simplest things by themselves, about learning patience — particularly with medical professionals who promise to be back in a minute, but aren't "until hours or days later" — and about acceptance of her condition.
"It was very important to Sister to include her favorite prayers," Kearnes said. "She prayed that her suffering and acceptance of her condition could help others and she began to receive graces to accept her physical limitations, so faith is a very important part of her rehabilitation of her paralysis."
After the attack, Sister Keegan went on to earn a doctorate in education and conducted a telephone and letter-writing ministry, channeling the love she previously had showered on 1,700 kindergartners and then on the Head Start program, widows and the downhearted.
A broken leg forced Sister Keegan, who is now 73, to retire to the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky., earlier this year. The book ends with her leaving for the motherhouse.
"The last chapter hasn't been written yet," Sister Keegan said from Kentucky. "I didn't get to tell people what it's like here. I'm still here and I still get to have fun."
While at the Loretto convent in Denver Sister Keegan planned parties for the sisters and decorated for holidays and feast days (which led to a close relationship with Wal-Mart). She now decorates the food trays for the nuns too infirm to visit the dining room at the motherhouse. She attends all the classical concerts at the motherhouse — she was originally a piano teacher — and she occasionally gets to visit Wal-Mart. She also plans to continue her tradition of sending some 400 Christmas cards.
"I talk to all the nuns," she said. "I go to Mass, lauds and vespers and the main dining room three times a day — and I'm not getting much skinnier. I'm still a sizeable sister."
Her book recently garnered a good review at the motherhouse from an important critic — her high school English teacher.
"She can't read because she's almost blind," Sister Keegan said, adding that the nun's sister, who is also a nun, read it to her.
With a hearty laugh, Sister Keegan said: "The other day she said, 'Rosemary, that book is wonderful. You know, you punctuate very well. And your grammatical construction is very good."
And it's a good read. Sister Keegan's infectious joy, her honesty and deep faith leap from the pages of the book: her pain makes your heart ache, her ability to see humor in all situations lifts your spirits and her undying faith leaves you examining your own.
"Like Nun Other" is available at local Catholic stores, including John Erger Church Goods, Gerken's Religious Supplies and the St. Malo Retreat and Conference Center bookstore. Cost: $10.95.
Contact Us
