Uncle John's True Crime: A Classic Collection of Crooks, Cops, and Capers by Bathroom Readers' Institute

Author:Bathroom Readers' Institute
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781607106784
Publisher: Portable Press
Published: 2012-08-31T14:00:00+00:00

LADY OF THE LOCKUP

This story from Uncle John’s Tales to Inspire is neither about cop nor crook—but a wannabe nun who wanted to make a difference.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

In 1965 a Southern California housewife named Mary Brenner got a phone call from her local priest, Father Henry Vetter. Father Henry knew that Brenner did a lot of charity work in the Los Angeles area, so he invited her to join him on a trip to Tijuana, a Mexican city just south of San Diego. A few days later, they filled a station wagon with donated medicine and other supplies, and headed south. After dropping off the medical supplies at various city hospitals, they made a stop at Tijuana’s notorious La Mesa prison.

AN EYEFUL

There’s a lot of poverty in Tijuana, and Brenner, who grew up in Beverly Hills, was shocked at every stop they made. But it was the prisoners at La Mesa who moved her the most. Built in the 1950s to house 600, the prison now held more than 7,000 men and women in appalling conditions. It had a reputation as one of the most dangerous jails in Mexico.

Even though Brenner was holding down two jobs and raising seven children, she resolved to return to La Mesa as often as she could. And over the next several years she managed to make the three-hour drive fairly regularly, bringing with her carloads—and sometimes even truck-loads—of donated medical supplies, toiletries, used clothing, furniture, and fast food that restaurants saved for her instead of tossing out at the end of the day. Yet after having accomplished so much, each time she left the prison she felt there was still more to do.

A CHANGE OF HABIT

When her second marriage ended in divorce in 1972, Brenner started thinking about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. A devout Catholic, she thought about becoming a nun. But when she approached an order called the Maryknolls, they told her she was too old—only women aged 35 or younger were allowed to join. (Her two divorces didn’t help her case, either.)

After talking it over with priests and nuns who knew of her work, she decided to take private vows and become a sort of “freelance” nun—one who didn’t belong to any established religious order. She sewed her own habit and took the name Mother Antonia, in honor of Father Anthony Brouwers, a priest she admired. From then on the prisoners, the prison guards, and all their families would be her life’s work.

In 2000 the CIA built a robotic catfish called Charlie. His mission remains classified.

GETTING STARTED

When the warden of La Mesa told Mary Brenner years earlier to come back anytime and stay as long as she liked, he probably never imagined that one day she’d show up at the front gate dressed as a nun, asking for permission to live in the prison. But he lived up to his offer and granted “Mother Antonia’s” request; in March 1977 she took up residence in the women’s block and began living at La Mesa full time.

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