Sr. Dolores Beatty GNSH

“A perky little Sister…fondly remembered for flipping her little black veil, not only a great teacher but one always willing to reach out with a helping hand and a smile on her face.”

That’s how Legend of McDevitt Father Charles Noone describes Sister Dolores Beatty…and that is very much how I and so many other of her students fondly remember her, as well.

She’s been called a pint-sized powerhouse…known for her ready smile, open heart, and infectious energy that inspired generations of students.  And for more than two decades, Sister Dolores Beatty of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart taught Social Studies at Bishop McDevitt High School.  But her contributions to our alma mater went far beyond the classroom.

A North Philadelphia native, “DB” – as friends, family, McDevitt colleagues and yes, her fellow nuns, call her – entered the convent a year after graduating from Little Flower High School in 1955.  Sister Dolores studied at D’Youville University in Buffalo and holds master’s degrees from both Villanova University and Gwynedd Mercy University.  She also took graduate courses at The University of Notre Dame.  And from 1971 through 1991, McDevitt students benefited from her extensive knowledge.

Along with World Cultures and Senior Social Studies, “DB” taught a subject that some of her colleagues shied away from: Economics.  As a former Girard Trust Bank employee, it is a subject she absolutely loved.  Sister loved being part of the McDevitt community as much as we, in turn, enjoyed her company and she has stayed in touch with many of her former students and fellow faculty members.  They remember her years dependably running the AV Club and moderating the Senior Prom Committee, for which she rolled up her sleeves and helped Signore Tony Russo make his signature sauce at the Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser every year.  (She laughs just thinking about that!)  Sister Dolores Beatty helped Sister Marianne Beatty, RSM with the cheerleading team and assisted Father Noone with McDevitt’s School Ministry.  DB was also the moderator of the Father-Daughter Dance Committee, Assistant Moderator of CSC (the Community Service Corps) and was actively involved with another McDevitt tradition: the annual Powder Puff Game.  Sister frequently could be found in the stands cheering (loudly) for any and all McDevitt sports teams.  She gamely performed when faculty members participated in school talent shows and laughed along with everyone else in the audience when her “habit” of flipping her little black veil regularly found its way into the McDevitt Day Show.  (She says the veil got in the way when she was writing on the blackboard.) 

Sister Dolores Beatty has been a kindergarten teacher, a beloved school principal, and taught at another Catholic high school in Atlanta, where students were devastated to see her leave.  Their loss was McDevitt’s gain.  Now, looking back, at the age of 86, Sister Dolores Beatty calls her twenty years at Bishop McDevitt the “best years of her life.”  Thank you, Sister, for contributing to many of our own, in turn.

With thanks to her nominator, 2023 Legend of Bishop McDevitt Father Charles J. Noone and biographical research by…Can it be?  Our good friend Jane Metlzer again? Why, yes it is!...A true Legend of Bishop McDevitt High School, Sister Dolores Beatty.