Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne in 1842. When she was in Penola she met Julian Tenison Woods and together they opened the first St Joseph's School in 1866.
Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph to continue this work. Over the many following years, the number of Sisters grew as did their schools. Schools were opened as the needs arose: in country towns, mining towns, cities. The Sisters also became involved in other areas of need including setting up a refuge for women in need and orphanages for children, visiting prisons and working with the sick.
History of St Joseph’s School, Renmark….
Early in 1919, just as World War 1 ended, a small band of five sisters, led by Sister Pius as Community Leader, set out from Adelaide to begin the first Catholic School in the Riverland at Renmark. The Parish was still young, having been formed only five years previously. Although the first church, St. Columba’s, a small wood and iron building standing on the site of the present St. Therese Church, had been erected in 1895, it was only in 1914 that the Parish was officially established.
Through the zeal and enthusiasm of Parish Priest, Father Peter Conolly, and his small congregation, a residence for the Sisters had been provided in Twelfth Street, together with a School Hall in Ral Ral Avenue. The Hall foundation stone was laid on September 1st 1918 and the School was overflowing with 111 students when Bishop Norton officially blessed and opened it on March 30th 1919.
In 1941 a new school was built on the Twelfth Street site. Subsequent building programs in 1984, 1990, 1997, 2001 and in 2010 has seen the school completely transformed to its present structure. The Sisters of Saint Joseph maintained an active presence in the school until the first lay principal was appointed in 2001.
Mary MacKilop's famous saying was "Never see a need without doing something about it"
Well..... there was a need, a geochache in her honour, and something has been done about it!
This is one of many caches placed in significant locations of her story.
Mary died on August 8th, 1909.
She was declared Australia’s first Saint in 2012.