Sister William Agnes Cael died at Saint Joseph Villa on July 18, 2011. Her funeral followed on July 22 at the Villa. Sister was the beloved daughter of parents, William and Agnes Cael.
Born into a family of three, Sister William was the youngest. Her sister Ave was twenty-one when Adrian Declan was born, and brother Bill was fifteen. Mr. Cael was a chauffeur for a CEO of a railroad company contributing to many moves for Adrian and her mother through her early years.
Having met several religious communities during her school days, Sister William was to meet the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Saint Patrick School in Malvern upon their return to the area. Mother Dolorita, Sisters Clare deLourdes and Alice Regina, in particular, were most memorable. After finishing at Saint Patrick School, the young Adrian Declan was enrolled in Villa Maria Academy, a short walk from their home, staffed by Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Cael parents fell on hard times because of the prolonged illness of her father and the sudden death of her mother. After her parents’ deaths, Sister William, having felt the call to religious life and after a vacation in Europe prompted by her brother, finally made entrance to the community.
Her life and ministry in our Congregation took her to various missions in the Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Allentown, Levittown, Pen Argyl, Schuylkill Haven, and Branchdale areas. She served as teacher, musician, and itinerant music teacher in these years.
Sister William had a love of classical music, liturgy, and foreign languages, especially Latin. In her final years at the Villa as musician and assistant sacristan, Sister William built a reputation as a quiet, gentle, simple, generous Sister, especially devoted to her remaining relative, dear niece Missy, and ever so grateful for her life as a Sister of Saint Joseph.
It is with hands and heart full that Sister William Agnes met her beloved Lord.
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