Constance Helen Gladman (1922 - 1964)

Born 23 Dec 1922 in Koroit, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Died 30 Nov 1964 at age 41 in Kokopo, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea

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Biography

Constance, or Connie, was born in Victoria in 1922 and died in Papua New Guinea in 1964^[1].

Constance GLADMAN ('Connie'), who was Sister Mary Rosina/Rose in the order of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, was serving as a missionary at Turuk in West New Britain in Papua New Guinea when she was violently murdered on 30 November 1964. She was slain while sitting at the back of a classroom doing teacher supervision. It is thought that it was a 'payback' killing because a young man from there had died in the Vunapope Hospital in Kokopo (near Rabaul) run by the same order of nuns.

Connie was a dedicated school teacher, and later, a schools' inspector. She was particularly interested in teacher education. Connie founded Kabaleo Teachers College which still exists today. She worked closely with Archbishop of Rabaul, Johannes Hohne, who she is buried near in the Vunapope Cemetery at the Catholic Mission in Kokopo, near Rabaul.

After the murder, the perpetrator is understood to have spent most of his life in the Laloki Mental Hospital near Port Moresby.

According to an article in the Warrnambool Standard on 4 January 2006 by Liz McKINNON, 2 streets in a new housing development in Koroit, Victoria, have been named Connie Drive and Gladman Court in Connie GLADMAN's honour.

On 29 October 2011, Maureen, my spouse, and I visited the cemetery at the Vunapope Catholic Mission. We photographed the headstone of the grave of Sister Mary Rose and paid our respects.

Constance Helen Gladman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Constance Helen Gladman (23 December 1922 – 30 November 1964), also known as Sr. Mary Rosina, was a professed religious of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and a Servant of God. There is current action to seek her canonisation.

She was born in Koroit, Victoria the oldest of seven children, raised in Warrong and educated in Warrnambool and Melbourne.

She died in Kokopo (Near Rabaul), on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Sister Rosina was beheaded in her classroom while working as a teaching nun among impoverished communities.

There is a push for her canonisation as a martyr.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth and Death: the dates of Connie's birth and death are clearly depicted in a photograph of Connie's grave in this profile