< Sister
Stories
 Sister
Alphonsus Talon
Entered 1926, Died 2004
Bridget
Talon was born in Ireland in 1908. Her parents died when
she was only 3 years old and her aunt and uncle took
her in.
When she was a young girl, Bridget was shown pictures
by Father O'Callahan of Sisters in Hawaii caring for
lepers. She was touched by the spirit of the Sisters
caring for others and eventually she decided to enter
the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate
Word in Houston. Bridget was a high-spirited girl with
a love and appreciation for life.
In 1932 after receiving her nursing training, Bridget,
taking the name Sister Alphonsus, was sent to St. Mary's
Hospital in Long Beach, California. The Sisters of Charity
of the Incarnate Word operated hospitals and schools
primarily in Texas and Louisiana, but at the request
of local priests had established hospitals in Long Beach
in 1923 and San Bernardino in 1931.
At 5:57 p.m. on March 10, 1933, Sr. Alphonsus had just
helped serve food to the patients and was downstairs
in the basement. She heard a tremendous explosion and
felt the building twist. The stairs leading out of the
basement crumbled, the lights went out, and the plaster
on the ceiling started falling. It was then she realized
that this was a major earthquake.
Thinking she was going to die, she dropped to her knees
to pray. This positioning was also handy because the
ceiling with three stories above her was lowering.
After some very intense praying, Sr. Alphonsus realized
that she was still alive and decided if she was not going
to die right then that she had better get on with helping
others. So she managed to climb out of a window.
Outside, she saw that the hospital was severely damaged
and the patient floors were sloping toward the front
yard. The stairways had collapsed. The elevator was gone.
There was no electricity.
The Sisters dragged the patients out of the hospital
on mattresses using an incline from the 3rd floor. There
were approximately 70 patients. The Sisters placed the
patients on the front lawn and later moved them into
two churches.
After the ground had stopped shifting, the Sisters built
a temporary hospital and eventually a new St. Mary's
Hospital.
Over the years, Sr. Alphonsus worked in every Nursing
unit in the hospital. In the 1950s she became Nursing
Supervisor of the surgery floors.
In 1970 she began the hospital's Patient Representative
Program.
During her ministry there Sr. Alphonsus experienced
many changes and challenges in health care in California.
Day in and day out, for 70 years, Sr. Alphonsus served
the people of Long Beach.
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