Sr. Colleen O’Malley Memories
Sue Wollan Fan recently sat down with Sr. Colleen O’Malley, our beloved 6th-grade social studies and religion teacher. In their conversation, Sr. Colleen reflects on memorable moments from her years in the classroom, including favorite stories from her time working alongside Wally Wescott at St. Luke’s. Enjoy!
October 15, 2025 Interview
Background
Sr. Colleen grew up in North Minneapolis, in Assumption Parish. She recalls needing to keep her doors locked and being vigilant in her neighborhood. Later, she was asked to go to Bird Island, Minnesota, to replace another nun whose classroom time had come to an end. Sr. Colleen loved her time there — she could walk around freely in a small, close-knit community where everyone kept their doors unlocked and looked out for each other.
St. Luke’s Teaching
Teaching in Bird Island, MN, Sr. Colleen was recruited back to the Twin Cities by Sr. Carmen, principal of St. Luke’s. Sr. Carmen was well remembered for her high-class Gucci fashion — courtesy of her aunts. Sr. Colleen’s most vivid memories are of the Class of 1975, a challenging group of boys who helped her “cut her teeth” at St. Luke’s. The following class, our class, was mild in comparison. Even after all these years, she still refers to the school as “St. Luke’s.”
Recently, Sr. Colleen attended a special event at Town & Country Club commemorating St. Luke’s 1974 Twin Cities Football Championship and honoring Wally Wescott. She felt deeply honored to attend because of her great admiration for Wally and all that he brought to St. Luke’s — especially his impact on the development of middle school boys.
Sr. Colleen admitted she didn’t always appreciate Wally at first — his unconventional teaching style and his “passion projects.” He was, she said, “an acquired taste.” But once she recognized his “secret sauce” — his ability to connect with kids both in and out of the classroom — she changed her tune.
She recalled the big jar of marbles on Wally’s desk. The students’ goal was to estimate how many marbles it contained. How exactly that fit into teaching math, Sr. Colleen wasn’t sure — but everyone remembered the jar. One day, Wally walked into Sr. Colleen’s classroom and scattered the marbles everywhere, to her surprise and horror. His message: “Lighten up.” Over time, that’s exactly what she did.
Sr. Colleen also remembered Wally’s deep investment in the St. Luke’s Rummage Sale. She never quite understood why he cared so much about it or what it had to do with teaching. He often sent students — mostly boys — to help with setup, sorting, and pricing. Eventually, she realized it was another stroke of genius: the boys learned responsibility and work ethic. (Sue: Families like ours benefited too. Many of us saved our babysitting or lawn-mowing money to buy treasures we couldn’t afford new. Used Levi’s — with the tag still on the back pocket — were pure gold!)
Wally was also the only teacher who had a phone in his classroom. Many jokingly called it “the batphone.” In reality, he needed it because, in addition to teaching, he was head of the referees’ association — a role that apparently required him to be reachable at all times. Youth athletics, after all, wait for no one.
Sr. Colleen also remembered many teaching colleagues from that era:
Gary Faust
Bill Gerst
Dave Galett – who later moved to New Mexico to raise horses (she thinks)
Jeanne Rogers – who had been Sr. Colleen’s grade school Girl Scout leader
Karen Needum - joined St. Lukes in our middle school years
Sr. Patricia D’Amali – who succeeded Sr. Carmen as principal
Activities and Memories
Coaching Girls’ Basketball
Sr. Colleen recalled one particularly memorable (and disturbing) incident during a girls basketball practice when a maintenance worker was discovered engaging in “inappropriate behavior” above the gym. She quickly distracted the girls with several drills while Karen Needum went to alert the principal. The worker was fired, and the Archbishop personally contacted Sr. Colleen to express concern about how she was coping with the “exposure” she had witnessed. Sr. Colleen couldn’t care less herself but was relieved that she saved the girls from seeing that – that practice was definitely more intense than most!
Ski Club
Sr. Colleen started the St. Luke’s Ski Club simply because she loved to ski — but couldn’t afford to on her own. By forming a club, if enough students signed up, teachers could chaperone for free. Many ski-loving colleagues happily volunteered.
The club took Wednesday evening bus trips for six weeks to Snow Crest (sp?). One year, an exchange student from South America joined but wanted to do cross-country skiing instead of downhill. Sr. Colleen encouraged him to embrace something new and give downhill a try. At the end of the evening, however, he was missing from the bus. She found him in the ski patrol booth with a broken leg, reverting to Spanish and repeating, “Up, down! Up, down!”
She also remembered a student she nicknamed “Tanya-Lasagna” (Tayna Stanley) to remember how to pronounce her name. Sr. Colleen recalls that Tayna once told her that her grandmother was the original Aunt Jemima on the syrup bottle – though Sr. Colleen was never quite sure if Tayna was teasing her. Tayna was also part of the ski club and, along with several other beginners, could be heard shouting and laughing as they tried to master the tow rope.
Student Council
As the Student Council advisor, Sr. Colleen organized a trip to the Governor’s Mansion on Summit Avenue so the students could experience government in action firsthand. The Governor personally met with them — a memorable highlight for all.
Life After St. Luke’s
Sr. Colleen later became Assistant Principal at St. Luke’s. One teacher, Sr. Victoria — who had stepped down from teaching at the college level to return to elementary education — frequently visited Sr. Colleen’s office to ask about school policies. Like most grade schools, St. Luke’s didn’t have many formal policies, so Sr. Colleen admitted she often just made something up to satisfy her — no one else ever seemed to notice or care.
Sr. Colleen eventually moved on to Christ the King School in Minneapolis, where she served as Assistant Principal for nine years. Since then, she has remained very active in the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Today, she lives at Carondelet Village senior center on the campus of St. Catherine University, St. Paul, in a lovely apartment that she enjoys very much.