Tennessee-Mom

Mary Catherine Schweiss Strobel
by Jody and Lesa Baltz.
Advocate for the poor and homeless. Mary Catherine was the only child of Henry Charles Schweiss, Jr. and Mary Magdalene (Sullivan) Schweiss. She was baptized at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee on September 25, 1912. She was raised by her father and two aunts after her mother died in a fire.

She married Martin George Strobel on September 14, 1937 and they had four children; Veronica, Alice, Jerry and Charles. Her husband Martin was an employee of the Nashville Fire Department. Martin died suddenly in 1947 and following the death of her husband Mary Catherine was hired by the department and thus became the first female employee of the Nashville Fire Dept. For 28 years she was secretary to the fire marshal. She also became the firefighters’ favorite mother figure & confidante. At Christmas each year crews of firefighters visited the Strobel home to make sure the children had toys. She sometimes knelt in prayer when they were sent out on a fire call. The fire marshal’s building in Nashville now bears her name.

She worked tirelessly with the poor and homeless. While in the city, she was abducted and murdered. More than a thousand people came to pay their respects to the tiny, compassionate woman who had touched so many lives. There were firefighters, police officers, public officials, the bishop of the Nashville diocese, more than 50 priests and even a few homeless people. A stickler for details, she left instructions for her own funeral. There was to be coffee if she died in the winter, lemonade in the summer. She also left the names of pallbearers. The funeral procession included a fire truck and five police cars.

The Strobel children wanted everyone to remember: “Mary Catherine Schweiss Strobel was a very special Mother. She gave us life– then showed us how to live it with vitality and virtue….Our mother was a giver, not a taker. A participant; not an observer. A lover; not a hater…”

Years later someone wrote: “Mary Catherine was Nashville’s Mother Teresa minus the fame. A tireless &

unsung good Samaritan in life, she has become the standard by which volunteer work is measured in the capitol city as well as middle Tennessee. Every year the Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer of the Year Award is presented and it’s just an honor to be nominated”.