austraLasia 935

 

 

MELBOURNE: 31st October '04 -- Sr Anne Ivaldi FMA, = first=20 Superior or what is now known as the Mary Help of Christians Province of = the=20 South Pacific Region (SPR) of the Salesian Sisters, died on Friday 29th = October,=20 at home in Clayton, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  She = had=20 herself established that community in 1977 as the Administration centre = and=20 Novitiate.  The Province Centre later moved to Scoresby, and the = Novitiate=20 to Broadmeadows, both in Melbourne, Victoria.

    Although not a pioneer in the sense of a first = arrival=20 of the Sisters in Australia (back in the 1950's), Sr Anne was = the=20 first Superior of the newly established Delegation in 1976 and saw to the = rapid=20 expansion of the Salesian Sisters' work throughout Australia and the = Pacific,=20 tripling the number of communities she found on first arrival.  In = 1999 the=20 region was established as the South Pacific Region.

    Sr Anne would be known to many members of the = Salesian=20 Family throughout the world.  Born in Turin in 1912, she 'grew up' = in=20 Salesian life in England and eventually became the Provincial there.  = When=20 others might have thought of retirement, not Sr Anne.  She arrived=20 in Australia in 1976 at the request of the Mother General of the = time=20 and set to the task of development of that delegation, finally a = province. =20

    Sr Anne Ivaldi will remain a much-loved memory not = only=20 amongst her own Sisters but for all within the Salesian Family who knew=20 her.