Throughout her years at Holy Name of Mary College School (HNMCS) in Mississauga, Ontario, Charlie Loconte would slip into the chapel at certain times of day to see the sun sparkle through the stained-glass window.
“I just wanted to watch because it was so incredibly beautiful,” she said of the light begotten by God interacting with the handcrafted creation of the late Felician Sister Mary Collette Michniewicz.
The longtime art teacher at the independent Catholic school for girls in Grades 5-12, who passed away in 2024, fashioned the 80-foot-wide stained-glass window from nearly 1,000 glass bottles of various shapes, sizes and colours within five months in 1980.
Charlie is among generations of alumni — including her mother, Tracy — who cherished studying and coming out of their shells at the 25-acre university preparatory institution on Mississauga Road.
Tracy deeply valued the friendships, the care of the teachers and Felician Sisters and a poster that hung in the calculus classroom bearing the motto “nobody plans to fail, some fail to plan.”
Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School, an all-girls regional school that relocated to Brampton in 2008, and HNMCS, jointly reopened by the Felician Sisters of North America and St. Michael’s College School that same year, both trace their origins to the original Holy Name of Mary’s founding on Sept. 7, 1964.
Unfortunately, due to “declining enrollment trends, rising operational costs and the evolving landscape of independent Catholic education in Ontario,” the Felician Sisters of North America decided to close the school after 62 years at the end of June.
The 2025-26 student body, which included Charlie in her Grade 12 year, was the last to animate this scenic institution with vibrant feminine energy.
Acknowledging the decision as “deeply painful,” a release from the Felician Sisters explained that “the closure is not a reflection of the school’s quality or legacy, but rather a responsible effort to steward resources wisely and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Felician Sisters’ educational and ministry work.”
Tracy, who graduated in 1992, while “so grateful to the Felician Sisters for the positive impact that Holy Name of Mary has had on me and my daughter,” is in “equal measure disappointed that the two-generation impact this had on our family could not be extended to three, four or more generations.”
She lamented that “it was done with no consultation, little notice and no opportunity for dialogue.”
Charlie and her peers experienced a period of grief upon hearing the news, and they empathized with what this would mean for the Grade 11 students and below.
“For those who were in Grade 11 or younger grades, they would have to change schools and have to reintegrate into a whole new school community with only a year or so left of high school,” said Charlie. “I think it was very difficult for them as well to realize and accept that they were going to have to completely uproot their social lives and move to a new school.”
Colette Sicoli, who attended from 1974-79, found out about the closure through the alumni Facebook account. A recollection that immediately springs to mind for her is praying the Rosary with one of the sweet, elderly and diminutive Felician Sisters named Dulcia, who stood at 4’11.’’
“She was probably the holiest person in the school,” said Sicoli. “Even the kids that could be considered more challenging would just light up and butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth when she was around.”
Sicoli also praised the leadership of founding teacher and later principal Sr. Mary Celestinee Giertych and expressed admiration for a touching gesture this educator extended to each graduate. She invited them to visit her office individually and presented them with a Bible she had inscribed with a note she thought would be personally meaningful for each girl.
Several additional alumni offered praise for Giertych, who returned the compliment to her students.
“I think as for any teacher, one is enriched by one’s students when you see that they are learning, that when they graduate, they do well in their future life,” said Giertych. “It’s always wonderful to know that in some way one was instrumental in helping a young person to grow, because obviously it isn’t just the subject matter that counts. What they learn that’s much more important is how to be an honest, righteous human being in everything that they do and work.
Sicoli reunited with another cherished presence from her school years, Sr. MaryAnne Olekszyk, this past April when visiting the school with some of her old classmates to say a final goodbye to a place that meant, and means, so much.
The staying power of this community first revealed itself to Sicoli following her graduation, as all the nuns showed up to her father’s funeral even though she was no longer a student. Also, Sicoli benefited from Olekszyk staying in her life as a spiritual director as she pursued a theology degree and became a high school chaplain for Dufferin-Peel Catholic board.
Estrella Frias also cherished the friendships she made during her years as a student from 1981-1985 that remain strong over four decades later. She also commended Holy Name of Mary for empowering her.
“Being part of an all-girls’ school gave me the confidence to become a strong-willed, success-driven woman while still balancing that ambition with the values that were instilled in me,” said Frias. “There was something very special about growing up surrounded by girls and women who encouraged one another and by the Felician Sisters, who provided such a strong foundation of traditional values.”
One of Frias’ friends from school during the 1980s is Kathy Fitzgerald. She likened the school to “a big hug.”
“It was so supportive, and they created such a sense of community,” said Fitzgerald, who retired in 2022 after teaching elementary students for 30 years. “I knew even as a teenager that it was a very special place. It was so easy. There was no competition with the boys. I still have so many friends from there to this day.
In yet another testament to how relationships from HNMCS remarkably glitter instead of dim throughout the passage of time, Fitzgerald is a part of a 10-member alumni choir comprised of fellow 1980s students and her homeroom teacher, Terry Murphy. They perform songs they knew back then and some they have learned since at long-term care facilities.
Murphy attended the school as a student from 1968-72 at a time when Grade 13 was still offered. She returned in 1978 to begin a teaching career that surpassed three decades and expressed awe over this institution’s excellence at forming quality women.
“The alumni from the school are just extraordinary,” said Murphy. “These women are leaders all over the place — doctors, lawyers, crown attorneys, cancer specialists, engineers, architects… just the most incredible women.”
Murphy’s awe is also strong for the Felician Sisters. They took care of her and fellow lay colleagues.
“My salary was basically thanks to the Sisters, the many Sisters who were still on staff at that point, giving up their salary so that the lay people could be paid,” said Murphy. “They advocated strongly and hard for fully funded education.”
In the aftermath of the school’s closure, there is interest and concern over the future of the school building and the cherished religious treasures — Michniewicz’s celebrated stained-glass window, for example. Every alumnus who spoke with the Register expressed a desire for the property to be cherished and safeguarded for a long time to come.
The Felician Sisters of North America indicated in their June statement that a decision on what to do is not expected imminently.
“No decision has been made regarding the future of the property, stated the media release. “The Felician Sisters will take the next several years to prayerfully discern the property’s future and determine what use best supports the Sisters’ mission and the needs of the community.”
While the alumni community that has grown for over 60 years will have to wait for the Felician Sisters to make their decision on their own time, they can act on one of Frias’ suggestions to honour the Holy Name of Mary legacy.
“The stories, friendships, traditions and values that came from the school should never be lost simply because the doors are closing,” said Frias. “I’d love to see a final reunion. The school may close, but the legacy of HNM lives on in all of us who were fortunate enough to have been part of it.”
