Louise Gradstein Dillery '49 Escapes War-Torn Paris to Make a New Life

St. Kate's Saved My Life Three Times!

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet at the College of St. Catherine "saved my life three different times," claims Louise Gradstein Dillery '49/'69.

Hunted in Paris
Being Jewish in Nazi-occupied Paris, Louise Gradstein lived at risk. Her mother had died of tuberculosis and sixteen-year-old Louise watched French freelance "Jew-hunters" come to her living room and capture her father as she was standing by watching. They dragged him away and shipped him to Auschwitz. By some miracle, claims Louise, these men did not arrest her (though she would have earned them some additional funds). Alone and without a job, Louise scrabbled this period, which is murky in her memory, with the help from a local police detective (he alerted her when he thought she might be in danger), a parish priest who gave her money periodically to pay her rent and get some food, her school friends and their families who would take her in when there was danger, and the public school staff who provided her with a special scholarship for her school uniform, supplies, and lunches. Because of these kindnesses and her hard work, by the day of liberation, Louise had her baccalaureate and spoke fluent English and Spanish in addition to her French.

During this time of facing deep evil, she began searching for meaning. She became attracted to the Catholic faith of her friends and the parish priest. She started asking questions and attending some services, and eventually she asked to be baptized. "A lot of things I didn't like about the Church, but I learned to ignore the man part and keep the divine. This faith helped me to survive and I'm grateful to this day."

Liberation!
Then came Liberation. "No words can describe the extraordinary ecstasy. The French troops marched in to Parish first (Eisenhower was generous to let them do this) and then came the beautiful Americans. I never saw such beautiful smiles -- gorgeous! Each one was like a movie star... There were some Germans left on the rooftops shooting, and my friend Ginette and I crawled under the base of the lion statue at the Place de la République. We could have been killed, but I would have died with a smile on my face!"

With her fluency in English, Louise got a job as a translator and secretary receptionist for the 249th General Army Dental Hospital. She was also able to show the "gorgeous GIs" around Paris. They all treated her with great respect and her boss "became the brother I never had."

Louise with her gorgeous GIs at the dental clinic and Colonel Joseph Rodier in the center, who became like a father to her.

On to America
Louise had always dreamed of going to the United States and then returning to Paris to teach English in school. So her immediate boss, Sargeant Bill Liedl, who was like a brother to her, arranged for her to go to stay with his family. However, without a job, Louise felt at loose ends and wondered if she should return to Paris. This is where St. Kate's first comes to her rescue. A CSC professor lived in the same apartment as Louise and the Liedls, and she invited Louise to visit the campus.

"The campus was so gorgeous," recalls Louise, "the most beautiful place in the Twin Cities." She was introduced to Marie Philip CSJ, Ph.D., who had studied in France. "She was the grand dame of French, known all over the United States."

Tall and regal as a queen, Sister Marie Philip exuded warmth and welcome. She said, "'Louise, if you'd like, you can come here in the fall. You may take any courses you want in exchange for assisting me in French conversation classes.'" Louise comments, "It was like being handed a silver platter with diamonds on it!" She was allowed to start as a junior in 1947, joining the class of 1949. She soon found many friends at the school.

Louise (front, right) started St. Catherine's aided by her new friends (left to right) an unidentified classmate, Mary Costello '49 (who would become Louise's bridesmaid), C. Joan Turner '50 (back), and Catherine Richardson '49. They are wearing their gowns because it's time to go to convocation at the chapel. Then she appears with



Inspiring and Generous Sisters of St. Joseph
The Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Kate's shone as beacons of hospitality, idealism, and intellectualism. "These women were so brilliant, every one of them, with Ph. D.s from the most prestigious universities of Europe and America. They were so ahead of their time!" But they were down to earth and gentle too. Sister Eleanor, from the Spanish department, advised them, "'Don't study so hard --- you're young. Go and have some fun!'"

Louise did.

Here is Louise and Mary Costello with unidentified partners at Louise's first formal dance. "The gardenias gave me an instant headache," remembers Louise.


"The Ground Fell Out from Under Me."

Fall of senior year, 1948, Louise was scheduled to student teach at Central High School. All she needed was a physical. Tuberculosis, that's what the doctor found in both of Louise's lungs. She was sent to the T.B. unit at Ancker Hospital (now Regions) where she spent nineteen months, with a year of complete bed rest. Thankfully, the new drug streptomycin had just been developed to fight the disease, or she, too, might have died like her mother and some of her hospital roommates.


One of Louise's close hospital roommates was Ruth Gibbons, sister of Sister Seraphim, who taught math at St. Catherine's. Sadly, Ruth died while she and Louise were in the hospital.




St. Kate's To the Rescue Again
Louise emerged in 1950 without an income, housing, or direction. Even so, "Every time something bad has happened in my life, some good angel has met me on the road in human form."


Sister Marie Philip offered Louise a room on fourth floor Derham Hall (somewhere around where the Alumnae Association Office now is) and gave her work for the alumnae and French Department. Eventually Louise married John Dillery, whom she had met through a meeting at St. Kate's of Alliance Francaise.

The Dillerys were very happy and had five children. All the while, Louise kept in touch with her friends from St. Catherine's.

"Some of the sisters liked to come and visit us in Mahtomedi" [where the Dillery family settled]. From left to right: Sister Eleanor (Spanish teacher), Mrs. Liedl (Louise's American sponsor) holding Louise's first born, Sister Marie Philip ("the angel who saved my life more than once") and Sister Mary Henry ("a great French teacher too").

Another Blow, Another Return to St. Catherine's
In 1966, the bottom once more fell out of Louise's life. Her husband died at the age of fifty-one in open heart surgery, and Louise had five children to raise on little income.

She returned to campus and sisters she loved, this time to finish her degree. As part of the Class of 1969, she completed her student teaching and was hired to teach French to high schoolers in South St. Paul for thirteen "wonderful" years. Here she met student Julie Gondringer, who became a lifelong friend and a CSC alum as well.

After early retirement, Louise subbed for a few years in inner city schools, which she loved, and then taught at Inver Hills College for seventeen years. Over the years, from first feeling alienated in the Twin Cities, Louise is now teasingly called by her family "Madame Chamber of Commerce," because she is so in love with this area. She finds it now has everything that Paris has -- art, culture, food, etc. Best of all, it has St. Kate's.

Julie Gondringer Devich Mpls '01 and her former French professor Louise Gradstein Dillery at an Alum Home and Family meeting, where Louise shared her story.