by Marilyn Fish
As those of you who follow the Becket Beat on Facebook know, Sister Judith Dalesandro of nearby Chester is a great friend and supporter of our town. As a young athlete she was among our fiercest basketball rivals, but in adulthood she sees us as valuable allies. “Becket people have been very kind and supportive,” she reports, referring to her experience at the Pease Store in Chester, which she manages as a volunteer. When ordering merchandise, she is careful to include a generous supply of Becket apparel at affordable prices. “Becket people buy a lot of hoodies,” she says, “and I’ve sent Becket hats as far as Mexico.”
Sister Judith is the daughter of the late Mary and Nicholas Dalesandro, both of Chester. Born in 1953, she attended public schools in Chester and Huntington before enrolling in Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. There she majored in Physical Education with the aim of teaching. She later enlisted in Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), an anti-poverty program created by President Lyndon Johnson. Although raised Catholic, her faith had become a bit unfocused in the 1970s. But a serious accident that landed
her in a Little Rock Catholic hospital for 3 months became her “road to Damascus experience.” Her faith was not just restored but intensified and in 1978 she joined the Olivetan Benedictine order. She took her vows in 1981, and embarked on a long career in teaching and recruitment. Sister Judith had found a place where she could combine her core religious principles with her natural curiosity, adventurousness, and sense of fun. Who wouldn’t love a teacher who picks up students at 2 am and drives them to a cotton field to view Halley’s Comet through a borrowed telescope?
Retiring from active service in 2010, she returned to Chester to help her widowed mother. She soon became active in town affairs and as a major fundraiser for multiple sclerosis, a disease from which she suffers. Less than two years ago she took on the management of the Pease Store in order to help her friend Lois Sturm, the building’s owner. Both women wanted to preserve the historic structure (built in 1896) and continue to offer sturdy, reasonably priced clothing. When Sister Judith decided to offer leisure-wear emblazoned with local town names, customers flocked to her door to get the latest hat or sweatshirt.
Sister Judith’s dynamic personality and keen intelligence are only two of the superpowers that impel her forward day by day. Meet her once and I guarantee, you can’t help but be inspired by her deep faith and trust, her love of people and new horizons, and her continued devotion to service.
