Holy Names Sisters received homemade gifts from Bing Crosby!? Yes, it’s true.
Here is a shell, painted and decorated for Christmas. The accompanying Christmas card reads, “Crafted at Casa Crosby by loving, if reluctant, hands,” signed by singer Bing Crosby and his wife Kathryn. Bing grew up attending St. Aloysius Parish in Spokane, Washington, which was staffed by Holy Names Sisters. Many future Sisters also grew up in that parish and crossed paths with the Crosby family over the years, including Sister Katherine Theresa Fife, to whom this shell was sent in the early 1970s.
Photo courtesy of SNJM U.S.-Ontario Archives.
We’re sharing objects from the Archives of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. The Archives catalogues historical records, objects and publications in order to preserve the history of our institution, schools and ministries.