August 4, 2015
Sister Dolores Carroll – a Good Samaritan nun and the first secondary principal at St Mary’s Catholic College in Kingaroy – has died in Brisbane aged 101.
Sr Dolly, as she was known, was born on November 4, 1913, and died in the Marycrest Centre at Kangaroo Point on Tuesday morning.
Current school principal Michael Nayler said he felt blessed to have known Sr Dolly as a friend and mentor during his time at St Mary’s.
“Sr Dolly loved St Mary’s,” Mr Nayler said.
“She was always excited about our latest building project or the increase in our student numbers. Every time I would visit Sr Dolly, she would let me know that our St Mary’s community was always in her prayers.
“I first met Sr Dolly shortly after I began my principalship at St Mary’s back in 2012. My first impressions were of a tiny, kind-hearted, cheeky, 99-year-old nun whose mind was still as sharp as a tack.
“I quickly discovered that she must have been a formidable Principal in her day, when I showed her photo around at the Parish Mass and saw 60-plus-year-old men quaking in their boots.
“I suspect that Sr Dolly would have had to have been formidable to start St Mary’s secondary College back in 1965 with very few facilities and nothing but hard work ahead of her.
“The early days at the College would have been tough.
“Sr Dolly often told me that she would have to wear her gum boots up to St Mary’s as she walked up the dirt road between the convent and the College.
“Sr Dolly had big dreams for St Mary’s and always wished that the students would get their own Manual Arts room, so that they didn’t have to walk or ride to the High School to use their facilities. She said that she always worried that they would stop at the lolly shop near the hospital.
“Sr Dolly never realised her dream of a Manual Arts room in her time at St Mary’s, but in 2013 we were able to honour her for her 100th birthday by naming the Sr Dolores Carroll Trade Training Centre after her.
“Earlier this year, Sr Dolly recorded a special video message to welcome all of the past staff and students who had gathered for our Combined Anniversaries celebrations.
“It took me about five visits to get Sr Dolly to the point where she was ready to deliver this message in this new medium.
“Even though she could barely see due to macular degeneration, she worked for days to pen her message to our St Mary’s community. Her beautiful original message was printed in her handwriting in our Combined Anniversaries magazine.
“Sr Dolly always said that she had had a great life with many happy memories from her times in Kingaroy, Japan and Mitchelton and around Australia.
“She was a woman of incredible faith and often said that she was ready to meet her beloved Creator. In the end, she passed away peacefully into God’s loving arms content in the knowledge that she had helped to leave this world a better place for her presence.”
UPDATE: Sr Dolly’s funeral will be held at 10:00am on Tuesday, August 11, at St William’s Church, Grovely
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The following interview with Sr Dolly was written by journalist Dennis Watt, a former St Mary’s student and now General Manager Rugby League at News Corporation, for the school’s 2015 anniversary celebrations:
At 101 years of age, St Mary’s College foundation principal, Good Samaritan Sister Dolores Carroll says watching the school thrive and grow continues to be one of the great joys of her long and remarkable life.
Now living in retirement at Marycrest Hostel, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, Sr Dolores said she felt blessed that current principal Mike Nayler and former teachers, parents and pupils kept her in touch with their lives and happenings at St Mary’s.
“I spent 14 years at Kingaroy (1965-1979) and to see the school grow from nothing to where it is today, enriching the lives of so many people along the way, is truly so fulfilling and rewarding.”
Sr Dolores said that beginning with fellow visionary and parish priest, the later Father Vincent Carroll, through to Father Nigel Sequeira today, St Mary’s had always had strong pastoral support along with an admirable cohort of quality parents, teachers, pupils and community supporters.
She said that the 2015 school celebrations were a wonderful opportunity to recognise and honour all those people whose sacrifices and hard work had enabled St Mary’s to continue fulfilling its mission.
“I applaud them all for their wonderful work through the years helping ensure that our young people have every opportunity in a Christian, family environment to learn, to develop and hopefully go on to live fulfilling and productive lives.”
St Mary’s honoured Sr Dolores in 2013 just days before her 100th birthday in naming the Sr Dolores Trade Training Centre after her in recognition of her determination to ensure that her original students had access to manual arts training. This honour also recognised her role as a builder.
Equally, Sr Dolores was an advocate for the arts and sciences, being one of the very few women in the 1930s to graduate from Sydney University with a science degree, while her outstanding Gilbert and Sullivan St Mary’s speech night productions were legendary throughout the South Burnett.
As part of her 100th birthday celebrations, Sr Dolores renewed her vows with a Mass concelebrated by 11 priests, including two Bishops.
Sr Dolores joined the Good Samaritan Convent in 1932, teaching at schools across NSW, the ACT and Queensland.
She was foundation principal of three schools, two of which are still in existence at Kingaroy and Ayr.
After leaving Kingaroy, Sr Dolores was sent to Japan as a missionary for 10 years, teaching English and religion in Tokyo, Nagasaki and Sasebo, learning the Japanese language and customs along the way.
Sr Dolores returned to Brisbane to spend another 20 years working in the Grovely parish as a teacher, counsellor and administrator. She had never planned to retire until illness saw her move to Marycrest six years ago.
Even so, Sr Dolores’s determination to serve God through helping others sees her continue to assist fellow residents and staff through being a companion, through listening and in helping validate their lives.
Now, as the last of her family and the last of her 11-strong novitiate class, Sr Dolores sees the church, Marycrest and former parishes and colleagues as her extended family.
“My journey has been filled with wonder and mystery, taking me to places near and far. I have been blessed by God and the Order – spiritually, educationally and socially. Of course there have been ups and downs but as the musicians say, it’s the discords that make the harmony.”
