For Grace Rett 'it was all rooted in faith'

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press 

UXBRIDGE – On her 18th birthday, the life-long Catholic school student got a tattoo. 

The day after her 20th birthday, she died, a victim in a motor vehicle accident. 

But there’s much more to Grace Mason Rett’s short life. Her family shared parts of it with media outlets Wednesday and Thursday at their church, St. Mary’s, and her first Catholic school, Our Lady of the Valley Regional. 

They were promoting a center to be built – and named for her – behind the school, which she attended from kindergarten through grade 8, graduating in 2014. She then attended Marianapolis Preparatory School, a Catholic school in Thompson, Connecticut, and the College of the Holy Cross, where she was a member of the women’s rowing team. The sophomore died Jan. 15 when the team was in the accident while on a training trip in Vero Beach, Florida.  

The memory of Grace Rett – and the example she set – are being kept alive in part through OLV’s planned $3 million Grace Rett Athletic Complex and Education Center. The GRACE Center is to be a 7,500-square-foot facility with a gym, middle school classrooms and outdoor spaces for reflection and education, according to the school. It can be used for multiple school and parish activities.  

So far about $2.2 million has been raised for the project, which is being designed by Rubicon Builders & Austin Architects, who aim to break ground early next year, a press release said. 

But back to the tattoo. What did a young women educated in Catholic schools want emblazoned on her arm? 

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) 

“That was her motto – that got her through everything,” said her father, Christopher Rett. “It was hard to say ‘no’ to your daughter getting a tattoo when it was a Bible verse.” 

At 18, she wouldn’t have had to ask their permission, said her mother, Mary Jo Rett. But she did, and “she would not have done it if we said ‘no.’” At least not then.  

“Grace liked being strong – in her faith, in her sports, in her school,” Mr. Rett said. 

“She was always striving for the more – the good, the better, the excellent,” said Father Nicholas Desimone, her pastor at St. Mary’s. “That played out throughout her life – athletically, academically. She was a gifted singer; she played the cello. She was never ashamed of her faith – it was all rooted in faith.” 

Mr. Rett said one of his favorite cards the family received after Grace’s death last January was from the mother of another rowing team member; the mother expressed gratitude that Grace taught her daughter the Hail Mary prayer. 

Mr. Rett said one of Grace’s favorite activities was the athlete Bible study at Holy Cross.  

“No matter how busy she was, she made time to go to church on the weekend,” added her sister Brianne, who also attended Our Lady of the Valley from kindergarten through grade 8, and is now a senior at Marianapolis. 

“Of course we have faith in our home, but it really got rooted in Our Lady of the Valley,” said Mrs. Rett, who teaches music at the school. She said that when they went to Florida after the accident that took Grace’s life, Brianne wanted to talk and pray with Sandra Robbins, the girls’ religion teacher at OLV. So they called her. 

Their parish has also been important for them. Upon moving to Uxbridge, they went to a couple parishes before “we made our way home” to St. Mary’s, Mrs. Rett said. She was already playing music for Masses at the school and had started a chorus for students. 

Brianne said she attended Vacation Bible School at the parish and “to this day I’m still a crew leader.” 

Asked how the center, the Retts and their loss help with the mission of evangelization, Father Desimone said, “The project is a reminder that even in the midst of unthinkable tragedy, there can also be some great good. And the name for the GRACE Center sort of reminds us that Grace and students like her are the product of this great school.” 

How did the Retts get involved with plans for the school’s new center? 

“For the last three or four years (the school has) been thinking about the addition,” Mrs. Rett said. “They had raised some money. … Then an anonymous donor first pledged half a million.”  

Mr. Rett said Marilyn Willand, OLV principal for several years, who retired last spring, “asked us if we would be OK with naming it after Grace.”  

Grace had always said that if she had enough money she would build the school a gym, he said. Brianne said students and teachers dreamed of having a gym of their own.  

“We were beyond happy that it was actually going to happen,” Mr. Rett said. “The school gave so much to the kids – it’s really nice that now we can give something back.”  

“It’s great that they’re naming it after Grace … but for us it’s not just about getting her name on a building,” Mrs. Rett said. “It’s about getting the building done for a school that meant so much to her and Brianne and our family, knowing that the kids for years to come will benefit from that.” 

After learning that the new center would be named for Grace, the donor, who they’ve been told doesn’t know them, doubled the gift to $1 million, Mrs. Rett said.  

“We are poised to grow,” said Edward Reynolds, who became principal of Our Lady of the Valley this year and didn’t know Grace. “And the addition of the GRACE Center will serve as a catalyst for that growth. I think it’s going to help us spread the word about the good works going on at the school.” 

He said grades 7 and 8 are to be relocated to the center, freeing up space in the present school building to “grow our fine arts programs and our STEM programs. … We’re going to grow enrollment and we’re going to grow in programs and we’re going to grow in faith.” 

The present fine arts and STEM programs “need their own space to become optimal,” he said.  And the center will “serve as a remembrance of one of the most faithful students in the school.” 

“She was a model student – what we hope our students become,” Father Desimone said of Grace. “She excelled in all areas … academically, athletically, in the arts and in her faith.” 

 For more information see the website www.ourladyofthevalleyregional.com. Donations can also be made by sending a check made out to Our Lady of the Valley Regional School (with GRACE Center in the memo) to the school at 75 Mendon St., Uxbridge, MA 01569.