St. Matthew’s Teacher Honored at Surprise Assembly Celebrating 90th Birthday, 70th Year in the Classroom
Sister Judy Lund was recognized as a mentor to her peers, a pillar of the community for her work founding Sparrows Nest, and as a teacher who has made a difference for generations of students through her joyful influence
By Mariah Thomas
When Sister Judy Lund started her first teaching job in Milwaukee 70 years ago, she had to leave after two weeks thanks to a polio outbreak.
Then, when she started her next job in Rockford, Illinois, a tornado hit town on her first day.
Fast forward a few years down the line, and Lund was teaching at a high school in Dallas, Texas, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated there.
Now, for more than 30 years, the Dominican nun has served as a matriarch for educators and students alike at St. Matthew’s Catholic School in Kalispell. While she hasn’t donned a nun’s habit since 1962, Dr. Susy Peterson, the school’s principal, described Lund as the school’s “spiritual leader.” Lund teaches the school’s religion courses for fifth and sixth graders.
“If I weren’t a teacher, I don’t know what I’d be doing,” she said. That’s part of why she joined the Dominican order — they are primarily joyful teachers and preachers, she said.
Holding onto joy, even through tough things like polio outbreaks, tornadoes and presidential assassinations, is one of the lessons Lund hopes she’s imparted to students throughout her 70-year teaching career, which the school celebrated during an assembly on Friday. They also celebrated her 90th birthday. Her time at St. Matthew’s will wrap at the school year’s conclusion as Lund retires.
The Friday affair, meant to surprise Lund, included a proclamation from Kalispell’s mayor. Students dressed in her favorite color, purple, and held up signs wishing her a happy birthday and proclaiming they’d miss her. For Lund’s part, she had a smile plastered across her face the whole time.
Lund was recognized as a mentor to her peers, a pillar of the community for her work founding Sparrows Nest, which provides housing to homeless high school students in northwest Montana, and as a teacher who has made a difference for generations of students through her joyful influence.
Eighth graders Danny Manning, Lynna Tiet and Malya Gauthier described Lund as somebody who always shows up, always wears a smile and always says, “good morning.”
“Every time she walks into a room, she lightens everything,” Tiet said.
During the assembly, colleagues said Lund is the first person to come into the building each day. They said she remembers every staff member’s birthday, giving them gifts.
In class, Gauthier said she makes religion come alive by having the students act out scenes from the Bible. Tiet recalled acting out Noah’s Ark, while Manning said they tried food from Jesus’ time while learning about biblical history.
“When I first came here in kindergarten, I saw everyone giving her hugs and they all loved her, and I was so confused,” Manning said. “But once I had her for religion in the fifth grade, I understood.”
But it’s the lessons outside the classroom that stick out to Lund and her former students at St. Matthew’s the most.
Lund’s roots in the Flathead Valley run deep. She has been visiting the area since she was a little girl because her uncles and grandmother lived in Coram. She loves nature, loves Glacier National Park, and loves working at a school that gives its students opportunities to appreciate the world around them. One way she encourages students to connect with nature is through the Glacier Institute, Glacier National Park’s official education partner.
When Madyson Rigg was a St. Matthew’s student, she said Lund taught science classes. Rigg, a former Miss Montana who now works as the Glacier Institute’s director of development, remembers one of her first experiences with the institute happening because of Lund.
Lund took the students to Big Creek, Rigg said, and it was an experience that stuck for Rigg. Lund said giving students the chance to spend the night outdoors and be in nature allows them to set the classroom aside and offers an important bonding experience.
Years later, in Rigg’s current role at the Glacier Institute, she helped with the nonprofit’s first capital campaign. Launched in 2022, the successful campaign for $1.7 million aimed to restore the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center.
“We were doing the restoration Big Creek campaign, and I was working on a video to put out into the community to appeal for support, and I called up Sister (Lund),” Rigg said. “(She) sat down and did a really, really sweet interview with us about how much Big Creek means to her.”
Lund also recalled her students stepping up to help others over the years, saying that was a highlight of her time as a teacher.
When the Sparrows Nest home needed remodeling, for example, Lund took a class over to give the construction workers sandwiches and treats. She said it gave them insight into what the building would be, and how it would affect the community.
“You’re touching hearts, I think, in a lot of ways,” Lund said.
For Peterson, the school’s principal, Lund has served as an important mentor.
“Patience, trust in God and kids are always first,” Peterson said, of the lessons she’s learned from Lund. “Do whatever you can for the kids, whether they’re ours or in the community. If you keep doing what’s right for kids at the forefront of your decision making, you can’t go wrong.”
Peterson has been the principal at St. Matthew’s since 2021. She never wanted to deal with Lund’s retirement.
“Having somebody that is a nun in a Catholic school is kind of like the foundation of what the school is about,” Peterson said.
But the number of American nuns has been in decline for the past 60 years. It means Peterson is uncertain whether the school will get another one when Lund departs. For now, Peterson said St. Matthew’s has a third-order Dominican on staff who plans to take over teaching religion courses. Still, Peterson said nobody can fill Lund’s shoes.
She hopes the school will carry on Lund’s legacy. They plan to remain involved with the Sparrows Nest. Peterson also has interest in creating a scholarship in Lund’s name.
“If I could build a building at the school and name it after her, I would,” Peterson said.
As for Lund, she plans to pack up her classroom and apartment at the end of the year. Then, she’ll head back to Wisconsin. She’ll join a retirement center for Dominican nuns. But she has one more school year to finish out first, and more wisdom to share.
“Look for joy,” she said. “Find joy. Give joy. Joy comes in the morning.”