Memories of the Good Shepherd

Chuck Greening, designer of the sundial that sits atop Kite Hill at Gas Works, sent in this remembrance of the Good Shepherd Center, when it was still a “home for wayward girls”:

There was a time that one could ring the bell at the front door of the Home of the Good Shepherd in 1973 – 1975 and get permission to pick fruit [often only 1 box]. Sister Michael would grant permission for a time until Sister Marilyn arrived from Minnesota to take care of the grand transition – The Sale.

I, Chuck Greening, rang the bell and got permission from Sister Michael often in the summer of 1973. I also was wrangling the idea of a Sundial at Gas works Park around that time and asked one time through the little window at the front door if I could borrow a floor space there to design and prep the layout of the Sundial. I was told no…..

That night a prowler climbed the fire escape and frightened Sister Marilyn who was alone in the building with the remaining older nuns, Sisters Michael and her shadow Katie.

The sisters invited me to live there and pursue my request. I did and stayed until both the Sundial was done, the building sold, and the Archway was built in 1981. Along with me were Artists Kim Lazare, Linda Beaumont, Robert Williamson and others living there.

I am suggesting to ask those who were invited to be ‘Guards’ during this time to write in about their experiences there during this period, including the development of Tilth and other occupants that helped to realize the Center as a viable institution..It had been slated as being a shopping center as well as the grand temple of the Mormon Church that was later built in Bellevue.

(Photo of Home of the Good Shepherd pool, located at present Tilth children’s garden, after 1959; from the Archives of Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Mid-Atlantic Province and HistoryLink)