Ann Russell Miller, the San Francisco millionaire who left everything and became a cloistered nun
Sister Mary Joseph lived the first 60 years of his life as part of the high society of San Francisco.
Photo: MARK MILLER / Courtesy
For: BBC News World
An American nun from 92 years, who took vows of silence, loneliness and poverty, died on June 5 at the monastery where he resided for the last three decades of his life.
However, the full story of the The life of Sister Mary Joseph is far from ordinary.
Until she gave up everything to dedicate her life to prayer, she was known as Ann Russell Miller , a wealthy San Francisco celebrity who threw lavish parties, frequently attended opera performances, and was the mother of ten children.
Born in 1928, Ann dreamed of becoming a nun, but instead fell in love.
To the 20 se c He teamed up with Richard Miller, who later became vice president of Pacific Gas and Electric, a utility company.
“To the 27 years she already had five children “, says her youngest son, Mark Miller,” and then he had five more, a basketball team of each sex. Planned Parenthood, “he called it.
” I had a million friends. He smoked, drank and played cards . She was also an open water swimmer, ”she adds.
“ He was driving so fast and he was so reckless that people got out of his car with a sore foot for stepping on the imaginary brakes. He quit smoking, alcohol and caffeine the same day and somehow managed not to commit a homicide, ”says his son with humor.
An “unusual” nun
When she was younger, Ann Russell Miller smoked, drank, and played cards.
Ann raised her family in a nine-room mansion overlooking San Francisco Bay and was known for taking her friends on vacation skiing, boating yacht in the Mediterranean and archaeological excavations.
He was a member of 22 different boards of directors and raised money for talented college students, the homeless and the Catholic Church.
Her husband died of cancer in 1984 Y It was then that he began the long and thoughtful journey to join one of the strictest orders of nuns in the world.
Five years later, he gave all he had to join the congregation d and the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Des Plaines, Illinois.
The monastery did not allow many visitors and those who went were separated by metal bars.
The Carmelite nuns are an austere and cloistered order that they live largely in silence.
They do not leave the monastery, except when necessary, such as for a medical visit. The nuns only speak if it is essential, allocating their time for contemplation and prayer.
“She was an unusual type of nun” , describes Mark Miller. “He did not sing very well, he often arrived late for his required duties in the convent and threw sticks to play with the dogs, which was not allowed,” he adds.
“I’ve only seen her twice in the last 33 years since that he moved to the convent and when he went to visit he could not hug her or touch her. It was separated by a pair of metal bars ”, details the son.
The farewell Ann’s ten children in order of age from right to left
Ann had 28 grandchildren, some of whom she never knew and has more than a dozen great-grandchildren , neither of which he held in his arms.
He slept on a wooden plank covered by a thin mattress in a cell and during the day he used a brown habit and sandals, far removed from his previous life filled with silk umbrellas, Hermes scarves and Versace shoes.
On his birthday number 60, Ann threw a party in order to 800 guests at the Hotel Hilton San Francisco to say goodbye to friends and family.
They ate expensive seafood, listened to music with a live orchestra and it is said that Ann wore a flower crown and tied a helium balloon that said “here I am” so that people could find her to say goodbye.
She told her guests that she had dedicated her first 30 years of life to herself, the seconds 30 to their children and that the last third of their life would be dedicated to God.
The next day she flew to Chicago to live in the monastery as Sister Mary Joseph.
When i was a child, Ann dreamed of becoming a nun, but instead found love with her husband Richard Miller.
“Our relationship was complicated ”, says his son. “She was born in the years 20 and died in years 19 of the following century. (She was) Ann Russell Miller, Trinity OCD’s Sister Mary Joseph. ”
“Say hi to Dad for me.”
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