Sr. Ardeth Platte, OP, 84, who lived at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker (DDCW) since 2018, entered eternal life on September 30, 2020. On October 3, 2020, members and friends of the DDCW held a Memorial Celebration of Life for Ardeth in the community garden. See: https://archive.org/details/memorial-ceremony
Ardeth wrote the following “Paths I Have Walked,” outlining her faith journey. (See: https://www.grdominicans.org/sisters/sister-ardeth-platte/.)
Paths I Have Walked – by Sr. Ardeth Platte, OP
My love and gratitude for these Gospel blessings given by God, family, Dominican Community, friends, Intentional Communities and so many others who have blessed and inspired this journey:
– Born on Good Friday, April 10, 1936 into a loving family of big brother and missionary dad
– Seventy-nine years of life and sixty-six years as a Dominican Sister
– Teacher of junior and senior high school, principal and coordinator of an Educational Center in inner city, Saginaw
– Living and ministering at St. Joseph’s Rainbow parish, learning the struggles from people of color made poorest
– Becoming an elected City Councilwoman and Mayor ProTem of Saginaw in extensive service
– Co-founding Advocacy for Justice and a Home for Peace and Justice in Saginaw for organizing and empowering
– Joining Intentional Communities in the Upper Peninsula and at Jonah House to practice and teach direct, political and judicial action for systemic change and commit to nonviolence, resistance and plowshare actions. “…they shall hammer swords into plowshares…” Isaiah 2:4
– Experiencing years of imprisonment and walking with incarcerated women
– “I am going to spend the rest of my life to get the U.S. on board this treaty,” Ardeth Platte, OP, 81, told Global Sisters Report in an interview at United Nations headquarters shortly after the vote [Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons-TPNW], the culmination of several sets of meetings that began earlier this year.
Up until the day God called her home, Ardeth tirelessly advocated for the TPNW. On the day she died, Malaysia became the 47th country to ratify the TPNW. On October 24th, a historic milestone was reached–Honduras ratified the TPNW, thereby reaching the 50-country threshold needed for the treaty to enter into force, making nuclear weapons illegal under International law. The treaty will enter into full legal force on January 22, 2021. https://www.icanw.org/historic_milestone_un_treaty_on_the_prohibition_of_nuclear_weapons_reaches_50_ratifications_needed_for_entry_into_force.
Finally, please see the below links to articles about Sr. Ardeth:
https://www.bruderhof.com/en/voices-blog/justice/is-there-bacon-in-heaven
Sr. Ardeth Platte, OP — Presente!
The Risk of the Cross
Swords into Plowshares
JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters
Democracy Now!
Common Dreams
Winter Soldier 2008
The Story of Stuff
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Washington, D.C. 