Anna Mae would be their loving daughter and consolation for the rest of their lives.

When the pain of Ruth's death eased, in 1922 George and Rhoda adopted a lovely child named Anna Mae, whom they loved dearly. This little one lit up their lives for nearly a year until the Spanish flu epidemic that plagued the world at that time snuffed out her young life just eight days before her first birthday. Shortly after their marriage, George and Rhoda adopted a baby girl and named her Ruth. Although she loved him dearly, George was a drinking man and the next twenty-three years of her life were plagued by countless struggles, embarrassment and financial difficulties that kind of life can cause. She met George Wise soon after Ernest's death and she married him on January 27, 1917. Ernest suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at a home where he was doing plaster work on May 16, 1916, leaving Rhoda a widow at twenty eight. Rhoda married Ernest Wissmar, a young widower from Canton, Ohio, in November of 1915 and moved to Canton, Ohio Their marriage was not a happy one and ended tragically six months after it began. Deeply touched by the Sisters kindness, Rhoda kept that hidden medal for the rest of her life. Rhoda explained to Sister that because of her parents dislike for the Catholic Church she would never be allowed to wear it, so Sister put the small medal in Rhoda's locket. While she was in Wheeling Hospital for an appendicitis operation, she received a visit from a Catholic Sister who gave her a St. Incidentally, when she was sixteen, Rhoda had a small encounter with Catholicism. Nevertheless, she did have a few Catholic friends. Rhoda often heard unkind remarks about Catholics and the Catholic Church. There was a definite anti-Catholic bias in the family and among their friends. Her parents were staunchly Protestant and Rhoda grew up in the First Christian Church.

Her mother was very patriotic and became involved with the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization which supported the veterans of the Civil War, even serving as a state and a national president for a time. Her father Eli worked in the family trade of bricklaying. She was born in Cadiz, Ohio, however when she was two they moved to Wheeling, West Virginia. They eventually had eight children, five boys and three girls. Rhoda Wise was born on Februand was the sixth child of Eli and Anna Greer (nee Anna Poulson). Primary source for this article is the excellent book “Her Name Means Rose –The Rhoda Wise Story” by Karen Sigler S.F.O. Rhoda Wise –Wife, Mother, Mystic, Stigmatic, Catholic convert (1888-1948)

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