Thomas Hull
Alice Eaton
Laurie Bartoletti
Paula McKenzie
Cathy Crosby
Connie Kelly Barsanti
Martha Bartholomew
Peter Fallon
Mary Schneider
Candy Krepel
Nkuzi Michael Nnam
Barbara Roth
Germaine Goetz-Sota
Beth Winkel
Jana Minor
MaDonna Thelen
Meet Our Associates
Driving Down the Fairway:
Connie Kelly-Barsanti’s Life as Dominican Associate
by Associate Annette J. Clemens
Previous to Connie Barsanti joining the Dominican Associates as one of the original members in 1985, she had entered the novitiate in Sinsinawa from Anaconda, MT. But after teaching chemistry and physics and completing some graduate course work, Connie decided not to take final vows. It was about one year after that decision when Connie met her husband on a golf course and thus, her life began taking a new path—as Mrs. Gene Barsanti.
It is her love for golf that illuminates what being a Dominican Associate means to Connie. She feels the focus she puts into her game, and into her life, is related to contemplation and study—core Dominican values. Connie illustrates this connection between golf and those values. “Sinking the putt is the reality. That is what Sinsinawa Dominican Association is . . . I know that Association is sinking the putt. The fairway is long, the strokes count, and the end is possible.” That is why Connie addresses the ball of life and gives serious “strokes” to Sinsinawa, Trinity High School, Misericordia, her special adult children, and the Barsanti Woodwork Corporation. Each swing means something significant to issues of justice and individual personal preaching.
As Associates, we can all relate to Connie’s metaphor of the fairway. May we all know that the strokes count and see the end is possible.