Comments on: Nazareth: Orphans, Ghosts and a Saint

By: robert gregory

robert gregory — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:14:07 +0000

My father John W Gregory was there with 2 or 3 of his brothers from about 1928 and stayed till graduation I went to Our Lady Of Lourdes catholic school from about 1958 through 8th grade some of the nazareth kids actually came to lourdes to school my father died 2005 i am finding a very few people that went there that are alive

By: Christine Chambers Tracey

Christine Chambers Tracey — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:31:39 +0000

I was living at the orphanage in the late 50′s and early 60′s. I was the youngest of three children in my family. We came to the orphanage after our mother dies in 1956. My dad could not support us due to bad farm years and knew my mom wanted a good education for us also. He never knew about the ‘things’ that happened to us during that time. Sister Mary Regis was mother superior at that time and Father Raymond Donahue was the priest. We were there when the rectory burined down. Floyd and Jesse were the cookes. Floyd used to sneak me poached eggs and toast up to the little girls dorm when I got sick at the table. That happened often.( these were the good moments) My sister Regina was the oldest and my brother Mike in the middle. Daddy would bring strawberries to us during the spring. I remember coming up to Raleigh the day they dedicated the New orphanage( Now the Tammy LYnn Center). I was amazed that there were only 4 beds in a room. We Had open dorms at the old building and at least 24 beds per dorm. I would like to know what happened to some of the picture books that were printed during that time that had all of us in it.

By: Patti Gore

Patti Gore — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:34:14 +0000

I have so much enjoyed reading your stories on here that I have actually cried! My best friend and I used to spend alot of time at the old orphanage (the remaining building left standing in the 70′s) while it was abandoned and thought it was so beautiful. It was a very special place for us. We would walk all through it and talk about how beautiful and special a place it must had been in its day.
When it was demolished sometime in late 70′s or 80′s we were heartbroken. (and still are today!) We still go out there and walk around and remember.
Unfortunately, we never took pictures and we are so disappointed that we didn’t! So I was wondering if anyone here has any pictures and if so, would you mind sharing them with me? I would be so grateful I can’t even describe how happy it would make me (and my best friend!).

Thank you!
Ghostland52@nc.rr.com

By: jon

jon — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:37:13 +0000

the best of my childhood were at Nazereth. Sr. DeMonfort was in charge of the grade school boys dorm and she was strict, but we were a handful to say the least :} We would raid the bakerey truck and stampede hogs at a neighboring farm. We would go over the TV station to get matches from the cigarette machine to make little fires and cook our lunchtime bologna, One of these time the field burned up cause we had an underground fort with a chimney. We lived in the old buildings but I did visit the new one on the way to Ft. Bragg for basic training after leaving Boys Town, a real miserable excuse for child care with all the problems you hear about these days. my e-mail is jon49417@hotmail.com

By: Lisa (Hunt) Iman

Lisa (Hunt) Iman — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:16:00 +0000

Five of my brothers and sisters and I were there from 1967 – 1971. It was in the new building across the street. I often wonder what became of the children that we shared the home with. There were the Callahans, the Preetys, Eddie and Virginia Poot, Chris Bologa and of course Sister Mary David and Sister Demomfort (called Sister De-monster) and the wonderful Sister Mary Hughes. Then there are ones that I only remember their first names like Joanne. She was in charge of caring for my sister and myself. She was the last orphan while we were there. We were her flower girls when she married. I would love to connect with anyone that was there during that time. Is anyone aware of a registry or group some that we can contact. These were our family members for so long. My email is indyliman@gmail.com.

By: CM

CM — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:04:32 +0000

When I was growing up my parish priest was Fr. Raymond Donahue down at St. Therese in Wrightsville Beach, NC. I remember him telling me a story about the time he burned down the orphanage (or the rectory part of it to be more specific.) He was evidently trying to get rid of wasps by using a burning kerosene rag on the end of a long stick called a “pope’s pole.” He asked the fire chief if he was liable for the accident, to which the fire chief responded “We can’t arrest you for stupidity.” I guess he wasn’t exaggerating and the story was true! Let it be known that although his judgment was questionable in this incident, he was a wonderful priest.

http://www.northcarolinaghosts.com/piedmont/crybabylane.php

By: Tom Dunlevy

Tom Dunlevy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:36:20 +0000

Tom D.
Glad to see the posted comments. My brother and I were at Nazareth from 1954 to 1962. I remember the graveyard and its general location. I have come to the site since the buildings were torn down and the original driveway was there several years ago. Is it Nazareth Street the comes off Western Blvd right at WRAL TV station and goes straight to where the main drive was. The main drive curved and ended near a magnolia tree. I have some pictures from those years mostly black and white and I recently found at book on Raleigh history that has an aerial shot of all of the buildings.
I remeber Floyd and Jesse as cooks and one of them ran the laundry.

By: Diane H.

Diane H. — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:54:20 +0000

“The Gallagher Girls”, my mother (Mary Frances Gallagher) and her sister (Lib Gallagher) lived at Nazareth from 1932 to 1942. Their memories are very happy and they are grateful they were raised by the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, NC in that environment. They felt they had a wonderful education and felt secure and loved. All the nuns were special to them. Also remember Floyd and Jesse Pope, cooks at Nazareth and “Aunt Liza” who worked in the laundry, who were dear people in their lives.
Mary Frances Gallagher Donahoe lives at 333 Willow Vista Dr., Saginaw, TX 76109 and Elizabeth Gallagher Hodgin lives at 3230 Pinecroft Ct., Greensboro, NC 27407.

By: Cecilia Theresa

Cecilia Theresa — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:37:38 +0000

Another story my mother told me left an indelible mark at Nazareth. She said she was always kind of sickly as a child and didn’t like to go outside to play. So on Saturdays while everyone else was out playing she sat in the hall and polished everyone’s shoes. One day after getting bored with the task at hand she decided to write her name in the hallway……in shoe polish. And it wasn’t in small letters it was BIG.

By: Cecilia Theresa

Cecilia Theresa — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:30:29 +0000

Since my journey to discover my mother’s past, she’s told me many other stories about Nazareth. Mother’s maiden name is Theresa Speaks. The little girl that died after being burned from the bonfire was a friend of hers. She said that the fire was a trash fire that the kitchen used to burn trash. THey would pick the tin cans out of the fire. THen they would follow behind the corn wagon and pick up the kernels that had fallen on the ground and try to pop them over the trash fire in their tin cans. The little girl that died was stooped down by the fire and her dress caught on fire. She started to run. All of the children were screaming to her to stop and get on the ground but she kept running. The hospital in Raleigh wouldn’t take her because the nuns had no money to pay so they had to drive her in a car to Greensboro. She was there about a week before she died. It haunted my mother because the little girl had such pretty eyes. Mother had told her she had ‘angel eyes’. In searching Ancestry.com I found, in the 1930 census records a list of the children there at the time. It included my aunts Eunice and Grace McDermon. My mother was not at Nazareth yet. She didn’t go there until Sept 7, 1930, her 7th birthday.