Remarks on the life of Sister Mary Celine Fasenmyer as told to Herbert Wilf, in April of 1993 She was born in Crown, in central Pennsylvania, October 4, 1906. Her parents were George and Cecilia Fasenmyer, though her mother, Cecilia, died when Mary was one year old. Her father worked his own oil lease, in the area. He remarried three years later, a woman, Josephine, who was twenty five years his junior. Her early education was at the St. Joseph's Academy in Titusville, PA, from which she was graduated in 1923, having been always "good in math". She then taught for ten years, and in 1933 received her AB degree from Mercyhurst College. She was sent to Pittsburgh by her order, to teach in the St. Justin School, and to go to Pitt for her MA degree, which she received in 1937. At Pitt her major was mathematics and her minor was in physics. The community told her to go to the University of Michigan for her doctorate, which she did from the fall of 1942 until June of 1946, when she received her degree. Her thesis was written under the direction of Earl Rainville, whom she remembers as having been quite accessible and helpful, as well as in a subject area which she liked. Her thesis showed how one can deduce recurrence relations that are satisfied by sums of hypergeometric terms, in a purely mechanical ("algorithmic") way. She used the method in her thesis to find pure recurrence relations that are satisfied by various hypergeometric polynomial sequences, and in two later papers she developed the method further, and explained its workings to a broad audience in her paper in the Monthly. It is the intellectual progenitor of the computerized methods that we use today to prove hypergeometric identities, thanks to the recognition by Doron Zeilberger that her method can be adapted to prove such identities. ********************************************** Added January 6, 1997: Here is the text of a letter, dated December 31, 1996, that I received today [January 4th, 1997] from Sister M. Eustace Taylor, of the Sisters of Mercy in Erie, PA: ----------------------------------------------------- "I am writing this letter to you just after reading your letter (dated Oct. 22, 1993) to Sister M. Celine, a letter of invitation [to the Discrete Math meeting in Boca Raton, 1994 - hw] which I know she cherished. I write now to tell you, reluctantly, that Sister died suddenly last Friday [December 27, 1996 - hw]. Sister's health had been quite the same as when you visited her here and at the time she attended the Convention [referring again to the Discrete Math meeting in Boca Raton - hw]. Her sudden death has been a great shock to all of us. We will appreciate your giving this word to the other two gentlemen, Dr. Zeilberger and Dr. Petkovsek, who are interested in her research. We wish you well in all your undertakings, and we thank you for so graciously bringing to attention Sister M. Celine's work. Cordially, " ***************************** Added August 6, 1997: The following is the text of an obituary notice that appeared in an unknown publication, kindly sent to me by Ivar Stakgold- Headline: "College professor, national mathematics scholar dies" "Sr. M. Celine Fasenmyer, RSM died quietly in her sleep December 27, 1996, after enjoying a community party the night before. The days that followed showed the extent of her ministry in retirement. There were many former students with whom she had been corresponding. While caring for her brother during his last illness and death in Bradford, PA, she had built a large circle of friends and supporters; a family from her hometown of Leeper, PA, had been including her in annual family reunions. A few tributes to her as a teacher and a friend follow (slightly edited): From a former high school student: Sr. Celine, a saint indeed as were many of the wonderful sisters who taught our family for twenty-five years. They provided us with spiritual and intellectual foundations that lasted a lifetime. My earthly friendship with Sr. Celine started in 1940 and continued for 56 years. Hoorah! Gloria in excelsis Deo! From a former college student: The biggest asset that Sr. Celine left behind is her love and kindness to all people .. she wrote .. remember, Edward, the only thing that matters in this life is how much you give from yourself to others .. Reading her Christmas card was the best part of Christmas. From Barbara Behan, a former student now teaching at Mercyhurst College: The unspoken agreement was that she was there to teach and you were there to learn. She expected a lot from each student, but she was a very kind person. She was interested in you and what you were doing and she always let you know that. Sr. M. Celine was honored a few years ago for her doctoral dissertation in mathematics, which has become a particularly useful tool in research in differential equations because of its adaptability to the computer. She taught several years at the elementary and secondary level in the Erie and Pittsburgh dioceses. She served as professor of mathematics and chair of the department at Mercyhurst for many years. She also served her religious community as directress of junior professed sisters and as mother assistant in the 50's and 60's." ************************** Added September 28, 1998: A videotape of an interview with Sister Celine is available to interested persons.