Agnes was the second child of William Charles Wightwick and Gertrude Virginia Collins Wightwick. She was named after her grandmother, Agnes Dolan Collins. She worked as a nannie to pay her way through college. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle. She already had a vocation to become a nun before she started college but didn't want to burden the Ursulines with the cost of her education. She entered the Ursuline Convent in 1934 and was known as Mother Marie Albert. She taught at Blessed Sacrament School before becoming a missionary. She spent time in Africa and England. While in England, she visited cousins related to her English grandfather. She also taught in British Guiana for many years. She received permission from the Ursulines to leave about 1956 to care for her aging parents. She gave them loving care until the end of their lives. Her father died in 1958 and her mother died in 1965. During the time she cared for her parents, she remained faithful to the Ursulines by attending retreats. After her mother died, she returned to the convent. The Ursulines dropped their requirement of wearing habits and permitted the sisters to choose their birth name if they so wanted. She was then known as Sister Mary Agnes. She became head of a school for girls in Pueblo, Mexico. Later, she returned to New Rochelle and went back to school to get a degree in Practical Nursing, so that she could care for the aging Ursuline sisters. She did this for many years until her own failing health caused her to have to retire. A printed article about the Ursuline Convent includes this excerpt "The way they care about one another shows especially in the infirmary, a four-room wing for the care of invalid sisters. Sister Agnes Wightwick, a licensed practical nurse now in her 60's, presides over the infirmary, cheering the aged along, calling them by nicknames and insisting to the superior that she can't take a day off. 'I have to be here with them when God calls them home,' she says." She had a great sense of humor and found good in everyone. She remained a faithful servant of the lord until her death. Now she rests in the peace of heaven.
Agnes was the second child of William Charles Wightwick and Gertrude Virginia Collins Wightwick. She was named after her grandmother, Agnes Dolan Collins. She worked as a nannie to pay her way through college. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle. She already had a vocation to become a nun before she started college but didn't want to burden the Ursulines with the cost of her education. She entered the Ursuline Convent in 1934 and was known as Mother Marie Albert. She taught at Blessed Sacrament School before becoming a missionary. She spent time in Africa and England. While in England, she visited cousins related to her English grandfather. She also taught in British Guiana for many years. She received permission from the Ursulines to leave about 1956 to care for her aging parents. She gave them loving care until the end of their lives. Her father died in 1958 and her mother died in 1965. During the time she cared for her parents, she remained faithful to the Ursulines by attending retreats. After her mother died, she returned to the convent. The Ursulines dropped their requirement of wearing habits and permitted the sisters to choose their birth name if they so wanted. She was then known as Sister Mary Agnes. She became head of a school for girls in Pueblo, Mexico. Later, she returned to New Rochelle and went back to school to get a degree in Practical Nursing, so that she could care for the aging Ursuline sisters. She did this for many years until her own failing health caused her to have to retire. A printed article about the Ursuline Convent includes this excerpt "The way they care about one another shows especially in the infirmary, a four-room wing for the care of invalid sisters. Sister Agnes Wightwick, a licensed practical nurse now in her 60's, presides over the infirmary, cheering the aged along, calling them by nicknames and insisting to the superior that she can't take a day off. 'I have to be here with them when God calls them home,' she says." She had a great sense of humor and found good in everyone. She remained a faithful servant of the lord until her death. Now she rests in the peace of heaven.
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