Sister Audrey Olson, CSJ

A positive, supportive woman of wisdom, passionate for justice and the environment

Audrey Olson, born July 1, 1928, was the oldest of three children born to George and Leona (Williams) Olson of Peoria, Illinois. Educated by the Sisters of St. Joseph in elementary school and at the Academy of Our Lady, she often thought of becoming a sister. She wasn’t so sure after she started dating! Audrey entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet on September 15, 1946, was received into the novitiate on March 19, 1947, and given the name, Sister Rose Christine.

"I don’t guess the convent was much different from home, you know, except there were all of these crazy rules." said S. Audrey. "I think that what saved me mostly was that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to them."

After earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado (1958), she received a master’s degree in modern European history from St. Louis University (1963). Later, she earned a doctorate in American history from the University of Kansas, Lawrence (1970).

In 1949, S. Audrey began her ministry in elementary education at St. Teresa of Avila in St. Louis, followed by St. James in Denver (1951). In 1960, she ministered at Little Flower in Mobile, Alabama. Her last assignment in elementary education was at St. Margaret of Scotland in St. Louis (1961). She began and ended her secondary education career at Sacred Heart Central High in Indianapolis, Indiana (1963). Then she became a faculty member at Avila College in Kansas City, Missouri (1965), followed by her doctorate study at the University of Kansas (1966). Returning to Avila College in 1970, she continued as a faculty member through 1976.

At the same time, beginning in 1973 through 1981, S. Audrey began serving as the St. Louis province’s social justice coordinator. As part of a protest at General Dynamics in Clayton, she and eight others were arrested. Consequently, she received a year’s probation requiring her to report to her probation officer. She also held the position of director of the Justice and Peace Office for the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois (1980). In 1982, she spent a couple of months in Cuernavaca, Mexico, studying Spanish.

Ministry as the director of the Justice and Peace Office for the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, followed from 1983 to 1990. Her other duties there included being in charge of the Rural Life Commission; Hispanic Ministry; the Respect Life Committee; Campaign for Human Development; Catholic Relief Service and Immigration. In 1990, S. Audrey left La Crosse to begin ministry as coordinator of Association/Partnership.

“I liked doing anything I ever did," said S. Audrey. "But I really did like working with the associates.”

Next, she was the community life coordinator for the sisters at Nazareth Living Center (1996–2002). Retiring in 2002, S. Audrey volunteered at the St. Louis Province Archives as an archival aide and then, as part-time transcriber. Even when she moved to Nazareth Living Center in 2014, she continued as part-time transcriber.

A big part of S. Audrey's spirituality was her excitement in what she came to learn about the new cosmology. She was so struck by "the whole idea of the infinite energy of God and the oneness of everything." She was "deepened as a whole" and based her spirituality on what she learned about it:

This whole universe is a living, breathing universe that is all one. And the amazing part of this is that it is our heritage ... The charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph ... is to see the oneness of everything. And that’s what this new cosmology and this new theology is teaching: the oneness of everything.

One of her favorite quotes comes from a Corlita Kent card, "You are a field of energy in an infinite energy field, yield."

By Sister Helen Oates