Monday Memories: Nun credited prayer and hard work for bountiful harvest

Sister Charlotte Rita Riley told The Blade in 1970 that adding scientific knowledge to her prayers helped her manage the Ursuline Sisters of Toledo’s 365-acre Ladyglen Farm near Grand Rapids. “I like to add a little potash to my prayers,” she said. Sister Charlotte Rita was taking agriculture courses with men half her age at Penta County Technical Institute to help her run an operation that supplied the kitchens for Mary Manse College, St. Angela Hall, St. Ursula Academy, Nazareth Hall and parish convents in Tiffin and Lima. In addition to a variety of crops, the farm maintained a flock of 1,600 chickens and a herd of cattle. In this Blade archive photo, Sister Rita drives a tractor pulling a load of crated apples. She had to hang up her hoe in 1980 and return to teaching after the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart decided to sell the farm it had owned since 1928. Go to thebladevault.com/memories to purchase more historical photos taken by our award-winning staff of photographers, past and present, or to purchase combinations of stories and photos.