ter’s in social work (MSW) from
Wayne State University.
Sharrain McFarley Stafford
‘99, who earned her associate’s
degree on Siena’s main campus
in 1991 and completed her
bachelor’s eight years later in
Southfield, is a special education teacher living in Detroit and
working on a master’s degree
at Wayne State. A former Lady
Saint who played basketball at
Siena Heights, Sharrain has
one son, Dylan Kerigan (4).
Dante Davoli ‘00 of Waterford
is serving on the Siena Heights
Alumni Association Board of
Directors.
ing toward his second Siena
Heights degree as a master’s
candidate in the organizational leadership program. He
recently was promoted to Commander of the First Precinct,
becoming the youngest commander in the Detroit Police
Department. This was a twostep promotion from Lieutenant
to Commander, skipping the
Captain rank. Asked if his Siena
Heights education had played
a role in this promotion, Ralph
answered, “Absolutely!”
Leo Patrick Dion ‘01 lives
in Howell and is an engineer
with EDS at the GM Proving
Grounds in Milford.
Ralph Godbee, Jr. ‘00, a
Detroit police officer, is work-
ment, Sister Colette
was an active and
creative
craftsperson, who sewed and
crocheted until just
a few months before
her death. For the
last few years, she
had made baby booties for the
Siena Heights Alumni Office
to send to the “Baby Saints” of
SHU alumni parents.
Class Notes
Florence Therese McKernin,
OP ‘37 died June 19 at the
Dominican Life Center. She
was 98 and in the 75th year of
her religious profession in the
Adrian Dominican Congregation. She attended St. Joseph
Academy before earning her
bachelor’s degree at Siena
Heights. She spent 64 years ministering in education in Ohio,
Michigan, Illinois and Florida.
She retired in 1990 when she
came to the DLC.
Franc Gage Rockwell ‘37 of
Largo, FL, passed away Feb. 12.
Many Metro Detroit grads received Kente stoles at graduation in Adrian.
gan, Puerto Rico and Florida,
including serving as principal of
St. Alphonsus School in Deerfield from 1933 to 1939. She
also ministered in social work
Angelico, to provide appropriate decoration for the pure
white walls at the entrance of
the new Benincasa Dining Hall,
named in honor of St. Catherine Benincasa, of Siena, Italy.
Sister Helene had just returned
from art studies in Italy, where
she was impressed by the
staying power of Italian frescos
(wall paintings) that had lasted
centuries with no diminution of
color. Sister Helene invited Ade
Bethune to Siena Heights to
design and execute a series
of frescos for the Benincasa
entrance.
in Cincinnati and Chicago, and
was general assistant at Maria
Health Care Center (Dominican
Life Center) from 1975 until
she retired in 1985. In retire-
Bethune’s illustrations depict
Catherine in her home: washing clothes, working in the
kitchen and preparing meals
for her many brothers and sisters. The scene paintings are
accompanied by texts selected
from “The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena.”
Ade Bethune did the work at
Siena Heights in the summer
of 1939 with help from Siena
art students, particularly Sisters Dorothy Ferguson ‘OP ’42,
Eileen Minges, OP ’49 and the
late Jane Burke, OP.
Mary Jo Campbell, OP ‘42
(formerly known as Sister
Mary Maxine) died May 10 in
Waukegan, IL, where she lived
since retiring in 1988. A grad Յє