Elizabeth (Betty) Simpson Burke 22 Aug 1906 to 16 Dec 2005

She as a very interesting person.  Most of her life she went by the name of Sister Joan Margaret.  She was a nun in the Episcopal order of the Society of St. Margaret now based in Duxbury, a seaside town about 30 miles south of Boston.

Her biological parents were David Wesley Gardner and Adeline Bell Hemenway as evidenced by Elizabeth Simpson Burke and social security data as well as other evidence. They were married at the time and had a son age 1 year, 7 months when Elizabeth was born.  Elizabeth's mother died 9 months and 12 days later.  She may very well have been sick since giving birth to Elizabeth. She apparently gave up Elizabeth before dying because her social security records list Elizabeth Simpson Burke as her daughter.  Elizabeth's biological father remarried 13 months after her mother died.    I am not certain who took care of the son, but he grew to adulthood.   Elizabeth Simpson Burke knew who her biological parents were because they are listed on her social security paperwork.

She was adopted by Robert Burke and Mabel Simpson a childless couple who had been married about 12 years when they adopted her.  They never had any children of their own and probably decided that adoption was the only way to have a child.  She was known as Elizabeth Simpson Burke.

Elizabeth Simpson Burke took her vows in the order in 1937 becoming Sister Joan Margaret. She was 31 at the time and was a trained physical therapist.  Before being assigned to its Haitian mission, Sister Joan worked in Bracebridge, Ontario, a frontier mission at the time, and did parish work in Utica, N.Y.

She arrived Haiti 1944 and worked there until 2003 (age 96).   She died December 16, 2005 in Sherrill House, a nursing home in Brookline MA.  Brookline is a neighborhood of Boston.

Funeral mass was held Jan 4, 2006 at St. Margaret's Convent in Roxbury MA. Sister Joan's ashes are interred in the columbarium there.

Personal links:

Sister Joan Margaret was the granddaughter by adoption of Capt. Thomas Charles Simpson 1819-1881.

My grandmother Sarah Simpson Butler 1885-1963 was another granddaughter of the Captain.

In other words, she is the grandauter by adoption of Capt. Thomas Charles Simpson. I, William N Frisinger am his great great Grandson.

Another way of looking at it is Sister Joan Margaret is a cousin of my matenal grandmother and only 7 years older thwn my mother, Elizaberth Simpson Collins.

They were  quite close at least as adults even though my grandmother was 21 years older.  She visited my parents and grandparents on a regular basis and visited the worlds fair in Seattle (1962) with my sister Ann.  After my grandmother died, my parents retired to Lauderdale by the Sea in Florida and Sister Joan Margaret visited them often and used their house as a base of operations in the area.  She even had her own key so she could use it when my folks were away.    We visited her once in Haiti.  It would have been in the mid to late 1950s. At the time the phones were not working anywhere in Haiti.  If you wanted to get word to someone, you would just send a messenger.  It was definitely  a third world country.

In the family we always called her Betty, short for Elizabeth.  I assume that was her nickname from her youth.

Family legend has it that she wanted to be a Roman Catholic nun but knew her parents would have a fit, so she became an Episcopal nun.  This is only part of  the story. Her adapted mother'ss family is protest going way back, usually Episcopalian.  Her grandparents on her adapted father's were born in Ireland and her father was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic Church. He also is buried in a cemetery has a strong Roman Catholic heritage.  He outlived his wife, so she had no say in the decision.  I suspect that her mother was the dominant religious influence growing up so that is why she was shying away from the Roman Catholic Church.  It was probably just her mother that would be upset but that is enough to look for a compromise.

I am William Nathan Frisinger born Feb. 11, 1941 in Ann Arbor Mi.  Sister Joan Margret is my maternal grandmothers cousin.

References:

Article from the Boston Globe Jan. 4, 2006  born 1907

http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/01/04/sister_joan_margaret_a_savior_to_haitis_disabled/

History of the Society of St. Margaret https://societyofstmargaret.org/history-of-the-society-of-st-margaret/

St. Vincent's School for Handicapped Children  St. Vincent's School for Handicapped Children https://stvincentshaiti.org

Newburyport News article titled Haiti quake brought death to school founded by a local nun  It has a lot of biagraphical infomaion in it.

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