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I live on a street named after a nun. I live on Colman Court in Mill Stream Village in St. Joseph. Sister Colman O’Connell died last Saturday at the Saint Benedict Monastery in St. Joseph. She was 90 years old. Sister Colman was a very special person. She always greeted you with a smile. One of my favorite times together was our attendance at the annual Boy Scout fund raiser at the home of Dan and Mabel Coborn. Sister Colman was a “Bennie”, graduating in 1950. She was an “English Major” and taught English for many years. She also taught theater and dance. She served as the President of CSB from 1986 to 1996. After she retired from the College of St. Benedict, she continued in her capacity as “Chief Fund Raiser”. In 2005, at age 78, she became Senior Development Officer for Institutional Advancement at CSB. I am sure that Sister Colman raised millions of dollars for CSB in her lifetime.

She was a first class lady, always dressed to the nines. Her favorite libation was Jameson in a tall glass with only one or two small ice cubes. She enjoyed life to the fullest and she will be greatly missed by the entire community. There will be a gathering at Sacred Heart Chapel tonight at 7 and a burial service Saturday at 10am, also in Sacred Heart Chapel at St. Benedict’s Monastery.

The A Prairie Home Companion show this week is a live broadcast from the Palace Theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Kentucky-by-way-of Nashville vocal powerhouse and guitar hero Chris Stapleton will help start things off with a potent blend of country, rock’n’roll, bluegrass, and soul; Memphis singer-songwriter Julien Baker stops by with songs of introspection and redemption, and comic Laurie Kilmartin will join the gang with incisive humor sharpened as a writer (and frequent guest) on late-night television. Plus: the very first Song of the Week of the season from our host Chris Thile and our ever-talented band — vocalist Emily King, pianist and music director Rich Dworsky, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, Paul Kowert on bass, and drummer Ted Poor — a few musician birthdays for the early days of October, and your chance to influence live radio with the Powdermilk Instant Song Request. All that, and scripts, characters, and unencumbered zaniness from our Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook, Tim Russell , and sound effects man Fred Newman) and it’ll be a veritable feast for the ears on your local public radio station. If you’re so inclined, you can also watch live (5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Central Time) at prairiehome.org, and if you’re in the Twin Cities, join the gang in downtown Saint Paul for a block party celebrating Minnesota Public Radio’s 50th anniversary.

“She had nothing against developing..development, change, ripening, were life.” Mary A. Arnim (1866-1941)