By Ernest Ragogini, Professor Emeritus of Music, Notre Dame of Maryland University
Her diminutive physical stature belied a powerful stoic presence. Sister Mary Theresine Staab was gifted with a perception of what was best in every student with whom she came in contact, and she demanded no less than each individual’s full potential. She was unrelenting.
Some years after my interview for a position at Notre Dame, Sister Theresine reminded me that I had sat across from her, pad and pencil in hand, and fidgeted. I recall none of it. This tiny woman was intimidating. The interview bordered on a grilling. That I remember. I also remember the countless moments her advice and wisdom led me to count her as a treasured friend and one of my most memorable sources of inspiration.
Little did students know that most of her time was absorbed in preoccupation of thought over their welfare, their progress, their career concerns. Not many knew, also, that she was a woman of incredible wit, double-entendre and, on the distaff side, a tender, warm person. Each characteristic was disseminated with purpose and direction. She was not at Notre Dame to become a popular figure with her current charges. Sister Theresine had a dual purpose in her professorial role at Notre Dame – to teach a discipline and empower students to discern and navigate through life’s lessons. In short, the consummate educator.
Sister Theresine laid the foundation of requirements for a comprehensive music program at what was then Notre Dame College. She was well armed to do so. She possessed a brilliant, organized mind and a gene rarely found in an administrator, an artistic soul and creativity of high caliber.
Her inquisitive nature led her to research the music of the Paiute Indians of Nevada, and she was eventually dubbed an honorary tribe member. She excelled in her expertise on opera, serving on the Baltimore Opera Company’s Board for many years.
Sister Theresine spent a number of her retirement years teaching the “chronologically gifted” in classes at Waxter and Bykota senior centers, and Broadmead, Pickersgill, Roland Park Place and Edenwald retirement communities. Sister donated her body to science, leaving not only a spiritual legacy but one which would lead to a tangible presence – a life’s lesson.
