Stirring things up at the senior center

It’s impossible to strike up a conversation with Anne

Hogan-Shereshevski at the Costa Mesa Senior Center and not take

immediate notice of her flashy, red bowler hat and matching red,

dangly earrings. She’s quite aware that these goofy accessories clash

with the rest of her ensemble, but the former nun and teacher enjoys

explaining why she wears them -- because they’re fun and because she

wants to belong.

This New York native’s not shy. From Hogan-Shereshevski’s

upbringing to her affiliation with the Costa Mesa Senior Center’s

eccentric Red Hat Society, the 83-year-old has a vivid memory of her

life, which also included a role in a French order of nuns. She sat

down with the Pilot’s Jeff Benson to remember her past and shed light

on her future.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on the anniversary of the sinking of

the battleship Maine -- Feb. 15, 1898. I always tell everyone I was

born on the same day, but it was really 1921. My students would

always tell me I don’t look that old.

I grew up in Ozone Park in Queens County, N.Y. It was a

middle-class neighborhood. I went to all-Catholic schools all my

life, and for high school, I went to Our Lady of Wisdom Academy and

was taught by French nuns. I was a good student -- good in languages.

But then I failed geometry. Now I love it.

What sparked the change?

Well, after repeating it, I fell in love with the teacher and

decided to enter the French order (of nuns). Geometry led the way

into the order. The name of the order was the Daughters of Wisdom,

but we called ourselves the “Wise Old Girls.” I had a great love for

the French language, and in the order, they only spoke French. I took

three years of French in high school and ended up teaching it for 14

years. I entered the order at a young 18 and studied in Ottawa.

Can you describe your experience as a nun?

It was like the Army. You take vows for five years and then you

pronounce your final vows. I was in Canada when I was supposed to be

graduating from St. John’s University, and at the same time, June 15,

1946, I could not attend my brother’s ordination to the priesthood

because of final vow seclusion. It was very strict. They gave

nicknames to the nuns. I was called “Soeur de la Sourire,” which is

French for “Sister of the Smile.”

That same year, my newly ordained brother, the late Fr. Edward P.

Hogan, came to Canada to deliver the English sermon. At the final vow

services, when he got up to the stand to talk, he looked so youthful

that I thought he was the altar boy. But he was my brother, Father

Ed.

When it came time for him to be ordained as a priest, we couldn’t

be together. This was the first time I’d seen him since then. It was

a big surprise, because he didn’t tell me. Then I returned to New

York.

What were some of your limits as a member of the order?

You had a rule of silence but only two hours a day of recreation.

Night time was called the “grand silence.” We weren’t allowed to

talk, so we used sign language.

How did you get your start in teaching?

In 1941, after my profession, I was sent back to New York to

matriculate in St. John’s University full time. I was to be a

teacher. Between my first vows and my final vows, I was assigned to

teach 45 screaming third-grade boys in St. Mary Gate of Heaven

Grammar School in Ozone Park.

After 1942, I was sent to St. Charles Hospital for polio patients

to teach in the wards. I taught reading, math, religion and geometry

to children in all grades.

How did you end up in Costa Mesa?

I decided to graduate from the nunnery in July, 1969. I lived in Queens County, N.Y., and was helped to get a job in Manhattan. Then I

moved to Mt. Morris, N.Y., south of Rochester. After teaching for two

years, I felt the call to come to California, where my sister and her

five children lived in Los Alamitos. I settled in Costa Mesa in 1977.

I attended the Garden Grove singles (club) in 1977 and met my

future Jewish husband there. I wondered what he was doing at a

Positive Christian Singles group, and he said he was looking for a

nice lady.

Was it difficult to be married to someone with a different

religious background?

Not really. We were married for seven years and neither one of us

converted since we were both happy with our own religion. And I

really had fun with him. I got to meet most of the rabbis of Orange

County.

What types of activities are you involved in at the Senior Center?

I cause trouble. I’m an advocate for seniors. I was a member of

the Senior Advisor Council until it disbanded. I tried to be a

liaison between the board, the staff and the seniors. I tried to

settle problems among seniors.

I’m seriously thinking of forming a concerned seniors group or a

think tank to resurrect the Senior Advisor Council.

I’ve been active at the Senior Center since its opening in 1992,

and I’m always busy advocating for seniors. I work on three

publications a month. One is the monthly Senior Reporter, where I

usually highlight a senior and write about senior events. The second

one is a hot sheet for the Senior Center. And the third is a “holy

flier” for seniors in my church, St. Joachim’s Catholic Church.

Now I play the piano twice a week at the center, and I do a mean

“alley cat” dance every Friday in the dining room.

Is there a story behind that red hat you’re wearing?

I am an unofficial member of the Red Hat Society. I have all the

jewelry and the red hat, but I’m too busy to attend the meetings or

go on the outings.

It kind of started with this poem, which said, “When I grow old, I

will wear purple with a red hat.” It’s just social, and the people

are known by the crazy red hats they wear. We go on trips and out to

restaurants and shows to reach out to others.

What are your future plans?

I’m thinking about writing a book sometime soon. I’ve had 22

people begging me to write my story, and I’m thinking of calling it

“The Roman Nun meets the Wandering Jew.” I’d like to follow my

niece’s footsteps as she just had her first book published.