Sister Mary Densley
Principal May 1979 – May 1983
A foundation boarder at Mercedes College, Mary Densley came to St Aloysius College from Mercedes in 1958 for Leaving Honours. Upon leaving school, Mary completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962, her Diploma of Education in 1963 and joined the Mercy order in the same year, aged twenty one.
Sr Mary commenced her teaching career at Mercedes College in 1963. In the years to follow, she taught at St Aloysius, Mater Christi College in Mt Gambier and Siena College, Findon as Deputy Principal. Following three and a half years at Siena, Sr Mary travelled to Manila where she studied for the Diploma in Pastoral Studies at the East Asian Pastoral Institute. She taught at Mercedes College and Siena once more for relatively short periods of time, before being appointed Principal of St Aloysius in 1979.
Sr Mary remained as Principal of SAC until May 1983. During her time as principal, funding became a significant issue. School enrolments were tending to fall, funding was slowing down but financial planning for the first stage of the Mitchell building nevertheless had to be continued.
During this period there were fewer religious sisters. Many of the sisters of the previous decade had moved into other apostolates and some had retired. In order to keep the changing curriculum well served with qualified staff, it became necessary to recruit more lay staff.
By Neville Stapleton
Archivist, St Aloysius College, 2020
