About Sister Loyola
Sister Mary Mullally Loyola, P.B.V.M. (1894-1979), was a Catholic sister and educator who dedicated her life to faith and teaching in the Order of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Born into a working class Irish Catholic family, her heritage and faith were constant forces in her life. She arrived with her family at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in frontier South Dakota by horse-drawn wagon in October 1905, searching for a new life far from the coal mines of Pennsylvania.
Founded in Cork, Ireland in 1775, the Presentation Sisters attracted Mary Mullally with their Irish heritage, commitment to the faith, and dedication to teaching in a frontier South Dakota dominated by Lakota Sioux peoples and settlers. Mary entered the convent in 1916 and professed vows in 1919. She earned a Masters Degree from the University of Notre Dame from 1929-1931, then returned to the Presentation Order’s Aberdeen missions. Inspired by her father, William F. Mullally, a Catholic school teacher and superintendent of schools for the Pine Ridge and Standing Rock Indian Reservations, she dedicated her life to education. Over the course of a 64-year career in the classroom, she taught Latin, Speech, advanced English, Theater, and served variously as Assistant Principal, Principal, and later as Mother Superior of St. Mary’s Convent. She educated generations of South Dakotans and was instrumental in the Presentation Order’s expansion of Catholic education in the Midwest, including the planning, funding, and construction of Roncalli High School in the early 1960s.
A Mullally Story
Throughout her life, Sister Loyola remained a leader of the Mullally family, maintaining close contact with her siblings and dozens of nieces, nephews, and others. Her sister Beth wrote about her posthumously, "For many, many years I had felt that to all the Mullallys, even to several generations, Sister Loyola had taken over Mother's role here on earth, giving a unique example of virtue and confidence in God's care of us, in keeping us together as a family unit, making us share in each other's joys and sorrows."
Sister Loyola died on Mother's Day, May 16, 1979. At her funeral service, her younger brother, Will Mullally, made a suggestion to his son, Michael. "We ought to take up a collection in Sister's memory," Will told him. A gifted storyteller, Mike worked the room at Sister Loyola's funeral reception with a bronze collection plate from Aberdeen's Sacred Heart Parish. Depositing the money in a new bank account, Mike and his wife Phyllis called it the the "Sister Loyola Trust Fund." Donations poured in through the mail in the months that followed. That fall, Mike and Phyllis awarded the first scholarship of $100 to a student at Roncalli Catholic High School in memory of Sister Loyola. In a letter to family announcing the scholarship, Mike wrote, "Sister insisted, in her gentle way, that we were meant to do better, could do better and overcome whatever problems God placed in our way. Sister didn't quit with one generation either...she followed the progress of each of us and became the central clearing house for family information. Not only did she share each tidbit within the family but she had a hot-line to heaven and used it effectively."
For the next 40 years, Mike and Phyllis managed the affairs of the Foundation and continued to award annual scholarships to Roncalli students. In the decades following Sister Loyola's death, the descendants of Will & Daisy Mullally would donate tens of thousands of dollars to support the Foundation's mission and the Mullally family's commitment to Catholic education.
A New Chapter
As the Foundation grew, so did the size and number of scholarships it awarded. In 1992, with the help of Mike & Phyllis’ son-in-law, Merlyn Knapp, the Foundation formally organized as an unincorporated association and obtained an IRS Code section 501(c)(3) charitable tax exemption. In the 2010s, Mike and Phyllis’s son, Michael Jr., and their grandson, Patrick Mullally Knapp, would join the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Later, their granddaughter, Erin Mullally Schrimpf, would also be elected as a Trustee.
Phyllis A. Mullally passed away on July 31, 2018—the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola—followed by Michael J. Mullally, Sr., on April 24, 2020. They raised five children together and enjoyed 64 years of marriage. Lifelong Catholics, they were deeply involved in their local parish, St. Francis Cabrini of Granbury, Texas, and remained committed to public service until their respective deaths. The work of the Foundation continues in their memory and spirit.
Now spanning four generations, the Mullally family’s demonstrated commitment to Catholic education is stronger than ever. Thanks in large part to the ongoing generosity of Mullally friends and family, the Sister Loyola Foundation has awarded scholarships to students of Roncalli High School for more than forty years without interruption. Although Foundation involvement and Board membership are open to the general public, the Foundation remains managed by the direct descendants of William and Daisy Mullally, the late brother and sister-in-law of Sister Loyola.