Remembering Sister Vernarda Lance
Please Pray for the Peaceful

Repose of the Soul of
Mary Venarda Lance, RSM
7/1/1921 to 4/19/2013
Nurse, Hospital Administrator, Chaplain, Beloved Sister of Mercy!
Sister Mary Venarda was the second daughter born to Ormie and Josephine (nee Parent) Lance in Minneapolis, MN, on July 1, 1921. At her baptism, she was named Mary Jean. Mary Jean and her older sister, Josephine, were soon joined by Betty Anne and Yvonne.
Mary Jean attended Annunciation elementary school and the Academy of Holy Angels in Minneapolis, MN. During those years, she knew she wanted to be a nurse and also had a leaning toward religious life. Since she was a frequent reader of the Sacred Heart Magazine, she found out about several religious orders. The only one who had hospitals was the Sisters of Mercy, and they had some connection with Florence Nightingale.
She went ahead with her intentions and entered the Sisters of Mercy Novitiate in Des Plaines, IL, on Sept. 8, 1938. She knew no one, but soon felt at home in the Novitiate because the group of women who came with her became good friends. She was received on March 12, 1939, and given the name of Sister Mary Venarda. Having completed the Novitiate, she professed temporary vows on March 12, 1941.
Read more »
|
Remembering Sister Lupe Stump
Please Pray for the Peaceful
Repose of the Soul of

Sister Lupe Stump
(4.20.1927 ~ 4.20.2013)
A Sister of Mercy for 29 Years!
Sister Lupe Stump, RSM, 86, was a teacher, a psychiatric social worker, and an advocate for the immigrant and the poor. Before she became a Sister of Mercy, she was a wife and a mother.
Lupe was one of 13 children born in Kewanee, IL, to Leandra and Modesta Dominguez. She was a graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana with a bachelor's degree in social science (1949). She completed post-graduate studies at Ball State earning a master's of social work (1954) and then another master's in theology from Mundelien University (1986).
Read more »
Remembering Sister Mary Geraldine McDonnell
Please pray for the Peaceful
Repose of the Soul of

Sister Mary Geraldine McDonnell, RSM
3/20/1920 to 3/28/2013
Born in San Francisco, the oldest of the four children of Michael McDonnell and Elizabeth Moran McDonnell, Mary Margaret was a first generation San Franciscan. She grew up in the Richmond District, attending Star of the Sea Grammar School and High School. She had fond memories of San Francisco in the 1930s and 40s, especially playing in Golden Gate Park and walking to the beach. In fact, she walked or took the street car everywhere in the city, since the family had no car. After graduating from high school in 1938, Peg, as she was called, enrolled in St. Mary’s College of Nursing, graduating in 1941. She continued as a nurse at St. Mary’s HospitalospitalHoH for the next 12 years, first in pediatrics, then surgery, becoming head surgical nurse. The World War II years were both stressful and exciting times in the hospital, and Peg got to know the Sisters of Mercy very well, as she ministered with them through these years.
In 1953, Peg entered the Sisters of Mercy, and taking the religious name Sister Mary Geraldine, professed vows in 1956.
“No one ever knew the many times she helped people who had a problem,” said Sister Mary Joanne DeVincenti, who was a young Sister of Mercy at St. Mary’s Hospital when Geraldine was head surgical nurse there. “She outdid herself in making sure a problem went away, using legal or illegal means!”
Read more »
Remembering Sister Mary Catherine Daly
Please Pray for the Peaceful
Repose of the Soul of

Mary Catherine Daly, RSM
09/13/1936 - 3/28/2013
Teacher, Principal, Administrative Team Member, Advocate for the Homeless
Sister Mary Catherine Daly was born on Sept. 13, 1936 to John and Mary Daly and grew up on the south side of Chicago, IL. She attended Little Flower Elementary and graduated from Mercy High School in 1953. In September, following graduation, she entered the Sisters of Mercy. She earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Xavier University (Chicago), a master's from the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) and a certificate in religious education from Divine Word Centre London, Ontario, Canada.
Fellow 60-Year Jubilarian Sister Nancy Cahill said, "I knew Mary Catherine at Mercy High School in senior year when we decided to enter the Sisters of Mercy. Sixty years later, she still retained her keen sense of humor."
Sister Mary Catherine ministered as a teacher and principal in Illinois and Wisconsin Catholic schools for 23 years. From 1958 to 1964, she was a junior high teacher at Resurrection; from 1964 to 1965, a teacher and assistant principal at St. Ethelreda; and from 1965 to 1967, a principal at St. Eugene, Fox Point, WI. After a year as a student at Divine Word Centre London, Ontario Canada, she served a year as co-director of formation for the Chicago Province. She returned to teaching, spending a year at St. Frances Cabrini School and then seven years at Resurrection School both in Chicago. Five of her years at Resurrection, she was curriculum coordinator and two years she served as principal. From 1976 to 1979, she was a member of the Chicago Province Team. Next, she served as administrative assistant from 1979 to 1988 at The Villa in St. Charles. Six of those year she also was principal at St. Joseph, Aurora, IL.
Read more »
Remembering Sister Pauline Fox
Please Pray for the Peaceful
Repose of the Soul of
Sister Pauline Fox
(12-14-1929 ~ 3-21-2013)
Educator, Archivist, Volunteer and Sister of Mercy for 64 years
Sister Pauline was born in New Haven, IA, on Dec. 14, 1929. She was the third of seven children of Ralph and Catherine (Egan) Fox. The family lived on two farms near the town of Orchard, IA - one of which they lived on for nearly 40 years.
Pauline attended Orchard Consolidated School, a small school with no more than 10 children per grade. She was always thankful that the small school provided some privileges such as the opportunity to perform in the senior play as a freshman or to be in the school band. "The musical experience was one of my most delightful of my teen years," wrote Sister Pauline in an autobiography. Pauline graduated in 1947 and, like most girls her age growing up in Mitchell County, she got a job. She worked at the local telephone office for two years before entering the Sisters of Mercy Community.
Sister Pauline was one of nine in her Sisters of Mercy band who attended the novitiate in Marion, IA. Of her novitiate experience, Sister Pauline once wrote, "It [the novitiate] proved to be an ideal spot for spiritual growth. I have always thought of that place as a blessing." Sister Elizabeth Derga, one of Sister Pauline's band members, recalls, "We had a lot of fun in the novitiate and throughout our years in the Community."
Read more »
|
|