Mother: Gertrudes Guirola de Mejia
Father: Encarnacion Mejia
Leonore Mejia came to Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo (now SHS, Atherton) in 1913 and surprised society by entering the RSCJ. She came from a prominent family in San Francisco, where her father was the Consul from El Salvador. Sister Mejia earned a BA and MA from Loyola University in Chicago while she was a Novitiate in Lake Forest, IL, and earned a PhD from Stanford after returning to California. She eventually became the first President of the San Francisco College for Women, an RSCJ college which is now the University of San Francisco.
Sister Margaret Reilly was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1894 and moved to San Francisco with her widowed mother when she was very young. She graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart, San Francisco and then attended college for two years at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo (now SHS, Atherton). At that time, our campus offered 2 years of college. Eventually going on to receive a PhD in education from Loyola university, Sister Reilly served at several RSCJ colleges, including Barat and Lone Mountain.
Sister Margeret Robinson came to Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo as a boarder when she was 9 years old. At the time, half of the students boarded at the school and the other half were from local families. Grades ranged from kindergarten to 4 years of college. Sister Robinson boarded at the Sacred Heart until graduating, then went on the graduate from Lone Mountain, San Francisco, where the Sacred Heart college had relocated. After attending the University of Nevada for a teaching certificate, she taught in a country schoolhouse until she joined the RSCJ order at age 26. She taught at both Sacred Heart, San Francisco and Sacred Heart, Atherton and was a beloved first grade teacher when she retired well into her 80s.
Florence was born in Seattle, Washington, on July 9th, 1908, one of the older of seven children, three of whom became RSCJ and one, a Jesuit. The family moved to San Francisco when Florence was very young, and she received all her pre-graduate education at Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo (now SHS, Atherton). She entered the RSCJ in 1929 and was professed in 1940. She taught at Menlo, Sheridan Road and in San Francisco, and, after receiving her graduate degree from Stanford, at Lone Mountain College from 1949 to 1958. To her great surprise she was then sent to Japan where she taught in the RSCJ Tokyo College for twenty-one years. (Excerpted from obituary below)
Mary Louise was born into a family of seven children, three of whom became RSCJ and one, a jesuit. She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo (now SHS, Atherton) throughout high school and for two years of college. Eventually, she completed a PhD in History at Stanford University. She taught high school at the Sacred Heart schools in Menlo and San Francisco while in graduate school. After completing her PhD she taught at Sacred Heart colleges, including Barat, Duchesne and Lone Mountain.
Born in New York and raised in San Francisco, Eleanor Deming was from a prominent family. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco and boarded at Menlo in order to meet the graduation requirements of the time. She was the first graduate of Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo, later renamed Schools of the Sacred Heart Atherton. Later Miss Deming entered the Society and served as the Mistress General at Menlo for over 25 years. In addition to her service to our campus, Mother Deming served at Sacred Heart schools in Omaha and San Francisco.
Mother Mary Gordon dedicated a good portion of her service to the Convents of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco and Menlo Park (now SHS, Atherton). She was one of the RSCJ overseeing the foundation of the Menlo campus while she presided over the San Francisco campus. She helped steer both schools through the 1906 earthquake and its aftermath. After helping the order establish schools in Vancouver, Omaha and Seattle, Mother Gorman eventually returned to Menlo in 1939, passing away two years later.
Sister Frances Danz studied at Lone Mountain College for Women, an RSCJ college that is now University of San Francisco. After receiving her Bachelor of Science, she completed her PhD in microbiology at Stanford. With her education complete, she traveled to Rome to profess and enter the RSCJ order in 1949. She became the President of the San Diego College for Women, where she expanded the college and nurtured strong ties with the students. She was reassigned to the Convent of the Sacred Heat, Menlo (now SHS, Atherton) from 1963-1967 and lead our campus through a challenging period of low enrollment and financial uncertainty. She returned to her leadership roll in San Diego, overseeing the college's transition to the University of San Diego.