Frances Margaret Darling, Carondelet sister, shared with students her love of outdoors

Sister Frances Margaret Darling, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet who served 20 years in Hawaii, died in California on Aug. 10 at age 84. She had been in the religious life for 66 years. Her funeral was Aug. 20 in Los Angeles. The Hawaii sisters celebrated her life with a memorial service on the day her funeral. Her friend and fellow member in the Carondelet community, Sister Constance Fitzgerald, wrote the following remembrance.

By Sister Constance Fitzgerald, CSJ | Special to the Herald

Many years full of exuberant life had passed for Sister Frances Margaret Darling before the headline in a 1991 edition of a Maui newspaper punned, “Being named the state’s best Catholic high school teacher is a Darling achievement.”

Sixty-five years earlier, in Los Angeles, on March 17, 1926, Frank Darling and Margaret Foley welcomed their first child, Frances Patricia. She and her three younger sisters had a normal childhood of fun, arguing and mischief. They spent summers camping in various national parks. In Yosemite, 16-year-old Frances climbed to the summit of Half Dome, aided by cables fastened in the granite.

Frances especially loved anything outdoors: scouting, camping, hiking, fishing, the beach. Her favorite indoor sport was reading. A minimum of once a week she went to the library, getting mostly adventure stories. She attended public school for the first five grades. When St. Anselm School opened in Los Angeles, Frances enrolled and finished her elementary education there.

For high school, Frances entered St. Mary’s Academy. During those years, she started going to daily Mass with her father during Lent, a practice she continued for some time. In her sophomore year she became attracted to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, or CSJs, mainly through Sister Mary Patricia Sexton and Sister Laurentia Digges. She characterized them as “kind, witty, funny and young, and they loved life.” They also gave her her love of poetry and literature.

Her desire to join the CSJs gradually grew. After a last summer of camping and being a counselor at Camp Teresita Pines in Wrightwood, Frances entered the postulate on Sept. 1, 1944.

When Frances received the habit on Aug. 15, 1945, she was given the name Sister Francis Margaret. After what she described as “a harrowing novitiate which refined me as gold is refined in fire” she was professed on Aug. 15, 1947, and made final vows on August 15, 1950. Her first mission was teaching for four years in our elementary schools in California.

At age 25, Sister Frances Margaret was missioned to Hawaii. It was in those first years that she fell in love with the beauty of the islands as reflected in its people. Besides teaching at Holy Rosary School in Paia, she was a Girl Scout leader. On Oahu, she also taught at St. Theresa School, Honolulu; St. Joseph School, Waipahu; and St. Anthony School, Kailua. After eight years Sister Frances Margaret rotated home to California.

Many of her California years were a combination of teaching and administration: six years as assistant superior at American Martyrs; principal at St. Joseph in San Diego; superior and principal at St. Emydius in San Francisco. When Sister Frances Margaret’s silver jubilee occurred, her regional superior asked her what she wanted to do after she finished the year at St. Emydius. She hadn’t thought of returning to Hawaii, but after a private retreat up in the redwoods, that possibility took hold.

For the next 25 years, Sister Frances Margaret became a “Hawaiian,” studying the language and immersing herself in Hawaiian spirituality/creation spirituality. The locals gave her the name Ka‘ipukai, which means “The Vessel of the Healing Sea” (a prophetic choice).

For 19 of her 20 years in Hawaii she taught English and was chairwoman of the English department and campus minister at St. Anthony High School in Wailuku. She thoroughly enjoyed the young men and women of the senior class and often took them to out-of-the-way places and even to the mainland for retreats. A co-worker remarked, “Sister Frances Margaret’s influence has been woven into the fabric of the school. It will go on for a long time.”

Besides her interaction with the young, she was a volunteer at the hospice in Maui. She also earned a special certificate for working with AIDS patients.

During vacation times she was able to spend time in a rain forest; camp inside Haleakala Crater, having ridden a horse to get into it; climb mountains; snorkel; and go deep-sea fishing. In one fishing tournament she was one of the four crew members who won the contest for landing an 825-pound blue marlin.

A quieter life met her when she returned to California. She tutored at St. Mary’s Academy for eight years and then joined the support team for the Holy Family Community at Carondelet Center. She finally moved into that community as a member in January of this year. A few short months later she died, on Aug. 10. Our thoughtful God spared her a long inactivity and has gifted her with a new experience.

Rest in peace, Frances.