2012 News
A monastic marriage: Fred and Jeannette Kelley
February 1, 2012
On most any day at the Monastery, it would be practically impossible to miss Fred Kelley, a 6’5” volunteer who until recently could be seen sporting a kitchen apron on his way to bake the Monastery bread.
Nowadays Fred helps at the Historical Museum and washes pots and pans while his wife Jeannette assists in a variety of ways, from answering phones to washing dishes to serving as Eucharistic minister and lector. In addition, she regularly contributes her knitted handcrafts to the Book and Gift Shop. On a nice day, you might also spot her picking up roadside trash on her three-mile walk from the Monastery to their Cottonwood home.
Fred and Jeannette Kelley are steady participants in monastic life. “Fred and I have made the choice to give our time, talent and treasure here,” says Jeannette. They intentionally retired to Cottonwood so they could be near the Monastery although their unique destiny with the St. Gertrude community emerged well before they were married.
In 1983, Jeannette chose to move from Michigan to Lewiston to be closer to her parents. Coincidentally, her apartment was right next door to Sister Carm Ternes and Sister Mary Kay Henry, who invited Jeannette to RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) at Our Lady of Lourdes parish. She was confirmed in 1984 and a year later, met Fred in a class at Lewis-Clark State College. Jeannette, in turn, invited Fred to RCIA – an event that they both now regard as their “first date.” That same year they became involved in the Idaho Ministerial Development Program, a project of the diocese that ran for a year-and-a-half and featured once-a-month weekend meetings frequently held at the Monastery and often led by St. Gertrude’s sisters.
Many of Jeannette's creations can be found in the Book and Gift Shop. |
In 1986, the sisters asked Fred and Jeannette, along with six others, to be founding members of what is now known as the Oblate Program. Lay people, regardless of their gender or marital status or Christian affiliation, can participate with the sisters in the Benedictine way of life. “This Benedictine stuff is big,” says Jeannette, now co-coordinator of the program with Sister Teresa Jackson. “It’s really important. It makes so much sense about how we should be living. Lay people are embracing Benedictine spirituality specifically: the lessons in peace, simplicity, hospitality. This monastery teaches that well.”
Fred bakes bread. |
Fred and Jeannette were married on May 30, 1987 at Our Lady of Lourdes. They spent their wedding night at the Monastery. “The sisters provided a delightful chivalry,” grins Jeannette, “with many surprises in our room.” These surprises included a Saran-wrapped toilet and a short-sheeted bed covered by a blanket hung with cowbells. The next day, giggling sisters blessed the couple at Morning Prayer.
Soon after their marriage, the Kelleys moved to Cheney, Washington to study at Eastern Washington University. Upon graduating, they moved to western Washington after Jeannette accepted a job there. She served as a social worker while Fred ran a sewer and drain cleaning business. For the next 17 years the Kelleys drove thrice yearly to and from the Monastery for oblate meetings. “The worst part of coming to the Monastery was leaving it,” recalls Fred.
“I always felt I was going home,” remembers Jeannette. “The Monastery is home to me. It fits who I am – fits like a glove. This is who I am and who I want to be. These women are my sisters, mothers, grandmothers; they love me unconditionally. One of the joys is knowing all these sisters with their backgrounds, talents, stories. It gives us a foundation to our life.”
The Kelleys retired to Cottonwood in December of 2006 to become long-term, permanent volunteers as well as participants in the Monastery spiritual community.
“It’s fundamental to who we are,” says Fred. “As far as Jeannette and I are concerned, the prioress has as much influence in our home as she does in the community. The most meaningful thing for me is the spiritual wisdom I find here.”
“The Sisters have been teaching me how to live and die,” adds Jeannette, “and how we can love and celebrate one another.”
Learn more about the Oblate Program and Volunteering