Here’s a look at what we discovered about some of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV’s family members in the Tribune archives:
Mildred A. Martinez Prevost (mother): Raised in Chicago with five sisters — including two who became nuns — she graduated from Immaculata High School for girls in June 1929, according to Tribune archives.
The contralto was a soloist in a 1940 Mundelein College performance and as a competitor in the 1941 Chicagoland Music Festival. Mildred Prevost obtained a graduate degree from DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in February 1947.
Her post-college exploits all appear to be rooted in faith. In December 1950, Mildred Prevost presented a book review of “Helena” by British author Evelyn Waugh to the Chicago circle of the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae. The book chronicles the life of Helena of Constantinople, whose son was Roman conqueror Constantine I. In October 1951, she was a member of a committee that produced a concert by the Gay Twins, dual pianists and nuns who were sightless since birth. Described as a homemaker in March 1952, Mildred Prevost participated in a forum called “The Catholic Woman in the Professional World.”
As president of the Mendel Catholic High School Mothers Club, Mildred Prevost presided over a hootenanny in September 1968 that featured Father Gale White and the Firemen.
Mildred Prevost died in 1990. Her death notice in the Tribune requested that contributions be made to the Augustinian Mission in Peru in lieu of flowers.
Louis M. Prevost (father): He received a degree from Woodrow Wilson Junior College (now Kennedy-King College) in June 1940 then graduated from DePaul University in June 1949 — the school’s golden jubilee — with a master of arts degree.
Navy Lt. Louis Prevost’s education was interrupted by World War II. He was promoted to the command of a landing craft in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a story published in the Tribune in May 1945. “He received his commission in November, 1943 … has been overseas 15 months.”
When superintendent of school district 169 in Bloom Township, Louis Prevost asked for the district’s Board of Education to hold a new election to issue bonds for an addition to Cottage Grove School, near Chicago Heights. He said space for athletic activity was a concern — there was none. The school’s gym had been converted into classrooms.
“Our greatest problem,” he told the Tribune in March 1952, “is finding room for physical education. On cold days all we can do to abide by the state requirements for 200 minutes of physical education per week is to have the children do setting-up exercises in the classrooms.” Voters approved the issuing of bonds and construction of an addition to the school.
He died on Nov. 8, 1997, and is buried next to his wife in Assumption Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Glenwood, according to Find A Grave.
Sr. Mary Amarita (aunt): A sister to Mildred Prevost, she was born on Nov. 26, 1906, and took her first vows on Aug. 15, 1928, according to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary based in Dubuque, Iowa. Their records show she served as a music teacher at schools in Clinton, Iowa, and Tigard, Oregon. She also spent one year as a music teacher at St. Gilbert in Grayslake. She preceded her mother in death in 1945.
Sr. Mary Sulpice Martinez (aunt): Another sister to Mildred Prevost, she was a member of the Sisters of Mercy for 77 years, according to her death notice published March 2, 1999, in the Tribune. She was interred at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, which is also where Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley is buried.
