Sister Mary Ignatius is one of the Roman Catholic nuns who nurtured several generations of Jamaican musicians at Alpha Boys' School over the last 60 years. She was one of Rico Rodriguez teachers when he attended Alpha school in the late 1940s.

Sister Ignatius was born at Innswood, St. Catherine, on November 18, 1921. She was baptised at the Roman Catholic Church in Spanish Town, and went to the elementary school in that town. Later her family migrated to Kingston and she attended Mico Elementary School and then Alpha Academy. A Jamaican, Sister Ignatius has been involved with the Alpha Boys' Home and School since she was 17. The sisters there made such an impression on her through their concern for the poor, that she joined the Sisters of Mercy on February 1, 1939.

She was called a mentor and friend to many of her pupils, often children who did not know their parents, among them some of the great Jamaican musicians.

She received the Badge of Honour for service to the nation in 1996.

Her most recent project is the development of a museum of musical memories at Alpha. Mounted on display are Don Drummond's trombone, Tommy McCook's tenor saxophone, Roland Alphanso's flute and Bertie King's alto saxophone.

Sister Ignatius was taken to the UHWI on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 after a heart attack.  She died at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) the next night.
 

2003:
• Alpha's Sister Mary Ignatius passed on, in: Jamaica Gleaner, Feb. 11, 2003

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030211/lead/lead5.html (12.2.2003)