Sister Mary Joseph was born in Poland on March 13, 1885. She immigrated to Canada in 1911 at the age of twenty- six, and in April, 1916 was received at our convent in Chewelah, Washington as an Oblate. She had been with a community in another part of the State, which disbanded. Sister was of the peasant class and had no schooling, but she was intelligent, had learned to read Polish, and acquired a fair knowledge of English, which she spoke with a heavy accent. As the years passed she became a deeply prayerful soul, and was especially devoted to the Rosary, which she prayed many times every day. She loved her Polish missal and followed the liturgical and sanctoral cycles faithfully.

Sister was a hard worker and a great help in the garden and orchard. At Clyde she did much of the peeling of vegetables and in the summer would stand on a stool (she was short and stocky) beside a table on the back porch, with her rosary flung over her arm, praying while she worked, when told it was not necessary for her to hold the rosary in order to gain the indulgences, she said, "Oh, but I want too." as an Oblate she did not take part in the Divine Office, but would go to chapel very early each morning and stand in a front stall, praying. She found it hard to understand how anyone could be distracted at prayer. Sister loved holy silence, and would show her disapproval in no uncertain way if she found Sisters holding a conversation at times and places she thought came under the rule.

Sister became a victim of cancer and suffered much the last year of her life. She faced death fearlessly and cheerfully and would often say to those who came to see her, "I’ll be seeing Blessed Mother soon". She died during the month of the Rosary she loved so well - a real example of the truth that holiness can be achieved without education, in simplicity and love. The day was October 12, 1958, in the 72nd year of her life.