As The Axiom Goes, Behind Every Good Man, There Is A Great Woman ....
“Oh, do come in, come,” says Sister Geralda Meskill warmly, after answering the front door to Archbishop John Vlazny’s residence near St. Mary’s Cathedral in Northwest Portland. “Now, can I get you a cup of tea?” she asks, bustling toward the kitchen where she also unveils just baked, warm-from-the-oven Irish tea bread: raisins and currants are sprinkled throughout the loaf, which is lightly frosted along the top.
An hour passes. And then another. The conversation could go on and on…but Sister Geralda is a busy woman. As the house manager for the archbishop of Portland, she’s in the midst of preparations for an upcoming seminarian dinner for nearly 35 men. There’s the menu to plan, groceries to buy…so hugs are given and goodbyes are said, but only until the next chat-over-tea between friends.
Sister Geralda, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, naturally exudes grace and hospitality. It is an extension of the person she is and how she was raised—in Ireland, hailing from County Limerick—in a close-knit family of 12 children. And it serves as the hallmark of her religious order; known around the world as being one of warmth, simplicity and openness to people from all walks of life.
“Sister Geralda has a great love and reverence for bishops, priests and the church,” says Franciscan Sister Carmel Gregg, who serves as a spiritual director and retreat leader at the Milwaukie-based Franciscan Spiritual Center. She has known Sister Geralda for nearly 40 years. “She has a very broad concept of the word ‘service’—everything she does is a ministry. It’s much more than ‘a job.’”
Describing Sister Geralda as calm, methodical and an incredible organizer, “She is completely in her element as the keeper of the archbishop’s house,” says Sister Carmel.
Sister Geralda’s day begins early, around 6 A.M. or so. She resides in which she fondly call “The Garden Apartment” on the first level of the archbishop’s residence, just off the courtyard. Each morning, after quietly praying in the chapel for a half-hour, she makes coffee for the archbishop—likely home from his daily morning jog. They have breakfast together, he goes to work and she attends 8:30 A.M. Mass.
From there, “no two days are alike,” says Sister Geralda. She cleans the three-story house, cooks, washes the dishes, does laundry, takes calls from all over the country—the world, actually—for the archbishop, or from him when he’s traveling, and assists in coordinating his schedule.
She greets out-of-town guests to the archbishop’s home and makes sure they feel comfortable during their stay there. She preparsthe menus for them—purchasing groceries and preparing the meals, too. In addition to putting on large-scale dinners—like the seminarians gala—she oversees decorations, like floral arrangements, for the festivities.
And there are the “nuts-and-bolts” of her role as house manager. If the air conditioning goes on the fritz—as it did this summer, when the archbishop’s nephew and his wife were visiting—Sister Geralda is on the phone to the repairman to ensure that it’s corrected. Keeping the house in proper, running order is her responsibility and one she takes seriously.
“I think that my ministry is first of all, to serve the church,” says Sister Geralda. “If I can be of service to the archbishop so that his home is more pleasant and comfortable, well then hopefully that environment will enable him to do his work better and more easily.”
She laughs when recalling a conversation she had once with a visiting priest, who had heard she managed a staff of five to keep up a house of this size. “I looked at him and said, as serious as can be ‘Father, I am the staff.’ I’m not sure he knew how to react to that,” she says, her blue eyes twinkling at the memory.
Built in approximately 1914, the residence had first been a school—Cathedral School—whose main student body size eventually outgrew the physical structure. The school moved nearby to NW 17th in 1961, and the former school became living quarters for the Holy Name Sisters who taught at Cathedral. After their departure, the building was used by Catholic Charities for some time until then-Archbishop of Portland William Levada had it renovated in 1988 to become his residence due to its close proximity to the Cathedral. He hired Sister Geralda that same year.
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Upon Archbishop Levada’s departure to San Francisco in 1995 to become archbishop there (he is now Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Curia based in Rome), Sister Geralda continued on as the house manager for his successor, then Archbishop Francis George. He left for Chicago in 1997, where he is now Cardinal. Since 1997 Sister Geralda has served Archbishop Vlazny.
“I have been blessed with the bishops I have served,” she says. “They are just a joy, and so appreciative…and Archbishop Vlazny is such a positive, upbeat spirit with a wonderful outlook on life. I am so very grateful to work for him,” says Sister Geralda.
The praise goes the other way too. “She is very gracious and welcoming to visitors who come here,” says Archbishop Vlazny. “Her attention to detail is exquisite, so anything she plans is done very well.
“If it was up to me, I’d use paper plates,” jokes the archbishop, “but that’s not her style, and over the years I’ve learned not to argue anymore!”
Ancillary activities for Sister Geralda include being active within St. Mary’s Parish, whether as a Eucharistic Minister, taking Communion to the homebound, or volunteering at the annual Oktoberfest. And she befriends the locals—an opportunity, she says, to interact with the homeless nearby, to get to know them, and for them to get to know her.
“They’re good people yet they’re always threatened,” says Sister Geralda. “People don’t acknowledge their presence, and that hurts them—it really does.” So she chats with them while she’s outside sweeping or gardening, or guides them to St. Vincent de Paul to get food if they’re in need. As a result, she’s been branded by a few of them as “a pretty cool girl,” she says with a laugh.
“Hospitality speaks so loudly, and people remember it—it’s like what a smile is to a person,” she says. It’s a silent language but a language of openness. You accept people, whoever they are, as they are.
“I think the good Lord is at the center of that approach, building a bridge for us to help others so that no matter our beliefs or faiths, we come together to live with and respect one another,” says Sister Geralda.
Whether it’s offering tea and Irish bread to guests, ministering to the archbishop or treating humanity with dignity and respect, Sister Geralda’s recipe for serving the church would make St. Francis proud.
That’s one “cool girl,” indeed!
Printed with Permission of Catholic Sentinel, Portland, OR; Photography by Gerry Lewin
