Erie Benedictine Mary Lou Kownacki, peace activist, former reporter and poet, dies at 81

Facts gleaned from her obituary say a lot about Mary Lou Kownacki, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie who died Jan. 6 at the age of 81.

Kownacki taught school and worked for a couple of years at the Erie Daily Times. She was a published poet and a peace activist — in fact, she earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in peace studies and taught the subject at a number of schools and in workshops across the country.

More:Jamie Bucheral dies at 24; 'He lived more in one lifetime'

One of the founders of both Emmaus Ministries Soup Kitchen and Erie's Inner-City Neighborhood Art House, Kownacki helped form Benedictines for Peace and served as national coordinator from 1980 to 1985.

Joan Chittister's muse

Kownacki also collaborated with Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun who has written extensively on women's rights and religious life.

While Chittister is known around the world, Kownacki played a supporting role.

More:A mother of 5, a refugee and a business owner, Mai Tran made a life in Erie

But Kownacki was indispensable, Chittister said.

"We worked together on ideas for 60 straight years," Chittister said. "Of the 60 books that came out of that, I took every single manuscript to her and we talked them through together."

Chittister, who has called Kownacki her muse, valued her honest critiques.

"She was a very tough editor and a very good one," Chittister said. "Her editing was really of the soul. She would look at me and say, 'You don't need these 10 pages.' She would edit for thought and impact."

More:Joan Chittister to speak with former president of Ireland at Mercyhurst University

Her long list of accomplishments was evidence of a life in motion, focused on changing the world.

'Beaming goodness'

But there was more to her, starting with an arresting smile that was on display at peace marches or working with kids at the Neighborhood Art house.

Chittister will always remember the smile and the woman who had a sense of fun.

"The woman beamed goodness," Chittister said. "It was not a struggle for her. It was an outpouring of her very self. She just let you know that happier people are peaceful people."

More:Frank Scozzie dies; longtime Erie schools administrator used wit to bring others together

Chittister remembers a memorable bit of wisdom from her friend: "If you are as unhappy as you look, you should begin to reflect on that."

Standing up

But the poet with the sunny smile could be tough.

Fact is, she grew up that way, said Sister Mary Miller, who is director of the Emmaus Soup Kitchen and shared a house with Kownack — actually, the house Kownacki grew up in — for the past 17 years.

Kownacki, who attended St. Benedict Education Center, "occasionally got in trouble," Miller said. "She was almost expelled. Her father had to plead with (school officials). It didn't hurt that she was the star basketball player."

But Kownacki wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed.

A veteran of innumerable marches and demonstrations, "She was arrested 13 times," Miller said.

And she defended the rights of others to protest.

In 2018, when students at Cathedral Preparatory School took a walk outside when school officials prohibited them from participating in the National Student Walkout, Kownacki spoke up for students who were told they would face detention if they walked out.

"They should have the right to follow their conscience,” Kownacki told the Erie Times-News at the time. "These young people are just forming and shaping their conscience. ... I’m sad that their opportunity was squelched.”

More:Bill Reese, Spartansburg-area lumber pioneer, remembered for 'guts and imagination'

In addition to her work with Chittister, Kownacki published "Peace Is Our Calling: Contemporary Monasticism and the Peace Movement," along with numerous books of poetry.

She shared her love of poetry with the development of Poetry Park in the 600 block of East 22nd Street in the neighborhood where she grew up. Two abandoned houses were torn down to make way for a neighborhood garden and green space that includes a stage, aluminum sculptures, and painted poetry murals.

Living to the end

Kownacki, who fought uveal cancer for three years, battled to the end, said Miller, who drove her to weekly medical appointments in Pittsburgh for more than two years.

"She didn't want to die," Miller said. "She lived life to the very last minute."

Looking through Kownacki's purse after her death, Miller found one of the many small scribbled notes that Kownacki was always writing.

It was just a couple of sentences from a woman who embraced life.

The note said something like this: "I just had my doctor tell me there is nothing more that they can do for me. But on the way home, I had the best bowl of clam chowder I have had in my 80 years."

It was like that with Kownacki, embracing one of life's little pleasures even as her own death drew closer.

Those memories had Miller thinking of the great trips she took with Kownacki, visiting places like Paris and Poland, as well as the years they spent sharing a household, where Kownacki valued both her solitude as well as the time interacting with friends who included bishops and poor neighborhood children.

"Living with her, it was a blessing," Miller said. "She loved so many different people. She was loyal to the end with everyone. Loyalty was one of her strongest gifts."

It was in those final weeks of Kownacki's life that Chittister paid a visit to her editor.

"I took her eulogy to her," Chittester said. "The days were getting shorter and we both knew that. I said to her, 'The eulogy is written. It's in the raw, Would you like to know what's in it?"

Chittister said, "She looked at me with that look —there's a glint in her eye and a smile — and she said that would be fun."

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Benedictine Mary Lou Kownacki, founded Emmaus Soup Kitchen