Obituary of SISTER AILEEN MAY GLEASON, RNDM

SR. AILEEN MAY GLEASON RNDM

May 9, 1924 – April 4, 2019

Sister Aileen May Gleason RNDM, died peacefully at Holy Family Personal Care Home in Winnipeg in the early morning hours of April 4, 2019.  She was 94 years of age.

Aileen was born in Watson, SK on May 9, 1924, the second of six children born to John James Gleason and Josephine Bridget Martin.   She was preceded in death by her parents, by her sister Mary Ellen, by her brothers John and Joseph, by her nephew Bill Gleason and his friend Liz Hansell.  She is survived by her brother Pat, her sister Bernadette Hopfauf, her religious community, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and by the thousands of persons she helped to a new life in Canada through founding (1991) and staffing Hospitality House Refugee Ministry.

Aileen’s parents were both teachers, and passed on to Aileen a keen sense of the importance of education.  She grew up attending school in various places in Saskatchewan where her Father had a teaching position.  In 1943, responding to a sense of call to religious life, Aileen entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) at Sacred Heart College in Regina.  She made her perpetual vows in 1952. 

Over the course of her long religious life, Aileen taught for twenty years in elementary and secondary schools in Saskatoon, Regina, Brandon, and in Fort Frances as a supervising principal.  While teaching, she also took university courses, and gained Bachelor’s degrees in Arts and Education, as well as a Master’s in Education.  She is remembered as an accomplished educator and administrator, as well as a life-long learner.

Following a Sabbatical in 1973, during which time she earned a diploma in theology, Aileen went to work for her religious Congregation in Rome.  It was on the streets of Rome that Aileen began to meet young Ethiopian men, who had fled the violence of their country.   Moved by their young lives which were now ‘on hold’, Aileen sought and found sponsorships for many of them through her Canadian friends and family connections.

In 1986, now back in Canada, Aileen took another step in her commitment to refugees that had begun when she was living in Rome.  When the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions asked her to coordinate the community’s work with refugees and to develop a comprehensive refugee program, Sr. Aileen gladly accepted. 

By 1991, when the number of sponsored refugees was reaching a thousand, Aileen began planning for a home to receive refugees.  In 1992, with the further support of the Rev. Jim Wolf, and the Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land, who offered the use of a parish house, Aileen was able to open a home to receive refugees in Winnipeg.  Named “Hospitality House”, it was to be a place of welcome and safety for those who had experienced so little of either in life. 

Aileen worked on refugee applications, replied to the increasing volume of letters and then e-mails that arrived seeking her help, raised funds, worked with various coalitions to raise awareness and support.  She was tireless.   Over the years, Aileen initiated several thousands of refugee sponsorships.  She welcomed most in person at the Winnipeg airport and then companioned them as they settled into their new life in Canada.  Hospitality House has grown to be a non-profit organization that is a leading sponsor of refugees.

In 2002, Aileen retired as “Refugee Coordinator” at Hospitality House, and looked around for her next challenge.  At 78, she asked to go to Kenya for about 18 months, to try to expedite the refugee applications of so many that were being slowed there, and to hasten the possibilities for people held in camps to come to Canada.  While that plan did not unfold as hoped, Aileen wound up staying in Kenya until 2007, and in that time she made a significant contribution to the formation of RNDM Sisters in Kenya, as well as setting up an Archives for the Kenyan RNDMs.  And all the while she continued to refer refugees she met on the streets to Hospitality House, friends, and family back in Canada.

On returning to Canada, Aileen settled at St. Benedict’s place, where she could attend to her desire to spend more time in prayer and contemplation.  That desire for God and commitment to prayer was an abiding thread in the fabric of Aileen’s life.  At St. Benedict’s, she was able to give it more focused time and attention.  She loved the monastic rhythm of her days, and the beauty of her surroundings.

For Aileen, living out her relationship with Christ as a religious missionary Sister, enabled her to live a full and a meaningful life.  Her commitment to refugees, which became a driving force in her life (and into which she immersed herself at age 66), enabled thousands of men and women from various parts of the planet, to escape the violence and poverty of their circumstances and find a place where they could live safe, peaceful, and meaningful lives in Canada. 

The Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions and the Gleason family are most grateful to the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate and the nursing staff at Holy Family Home, for the welcome and care given to Aileen during the short time she was resident there.  They are also grateful to Bonnie Dickie, RNDM Elder Care Coordinator, who was a loving companion to Aileen, sharing literary interests and helping Aileen manifest more of the playful parts of her character.

Funeral Mass of the Resurrection will be on Tuesday, April 9, at St. Benedict’s Monastery 225 Masters Ave, West Saint Paul, MB.   Viewing and eulogy at 10.15 a.m.; Eucharist at 11.00 a.m. with Rev. Fr. Sam Argenziano presiding.  Interment will take place at a later date. 

In lieu of flowers friends may wish to send a donation to Hospitality House or to the Mission Fund of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, 393 Gaboury Place, Winnipeg, MB, R2H 0L5.