Sister Stories

Sister Ann Therese Collins

But perhaps even more a mirror of her life are these words from Mary Nolan, OP. "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the sun. The early ages of life are filled with wonder and discovery. The later age of life is the time of integration. It is a time to bring together the totality of life’s experiences into a dazzling unity of joy and pain, failure and success, gain and loss, giving and receiving, achievement and struggle. All comes together in gratitude, gratitude for the whole adventure of one’s life.

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Sister Mary Janice McCann

Mother Teresa said, “Give your hands to serve and your heart to love.” As we look back on the life of Sister Jan, I think we can say with confidence that she did both very well. And so, we thank God for her even as we mourn her passing, pray for her and commend her soul to God.

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Sister Mary Ellen Freeman

We can easily find her quilt square in the large quilt at the bottom of the stairs. Look for the yellow square, with a “smiley face” in the second row from the bottom. Around it are blocks representing important aspects of her life: CHM community, family, prayer, service, and fun. Mary Ellen said she loved to laugh and thought she could make others laugh too.

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Sister Elizabeth Thoman

Sister Elizabeth’s life was remarkable because her horizons kept expanding, both personally and professionally, calling forth a plenitude of gifts.

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Sister Martha Mary Conrad

It was in Somerset, Kentucky, in the Lexington Diocese, that she felt the Holy Spirit calling her. She must have heard well as she stayed there for almost thirty-five years. While getting acquainted with St. Mildred’s parish there, she soon heard about the needs of the community. With the help of others, including churches, they founded St. Mildred’s Outreach of which she became the Director. The range of needs was great from utilities, to food, clothing, shelter, medications, even to advocating for clean community water supplies. Whenever needed, such as sudden loss of a job or of a home to fire, Sr. Marty’s service included counseling and spiritual support. She left behind “God’s Food Pantry”, a non-profit organization that serves the entire Pulaski county area, and the Outreach Center now managed by experienced volunteers.

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Sister Darlene Schwarte

At the time of her 50th jubilee as a Sister of Humility in 2006, she reported she had spent 26 years as a teacher’s aide and 26 years as a cook...In addition to her baking skills, Sister Darlene was a fine seamstress and produced needle-work pieces and other crafts for the holiday sales that were annual events at the Center for years.

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Sister Ursula Keough

Right after Vatican II we were teaching the children the newer ideas of theology and the more open way of operating in the Church. When they tried to explain it to their parents, it wasn’t making sense. It seemed like it was creating a division rather than having parents and children on the same track. So I began to feel it was important that we work more with the adults and then, in turn, help them work with their children.

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Sister Carolyn Walters

Sister Carolyn has left lasting records of her caring heart. In the late 1960s she established what may have been the first, or at least a very early, hotline for calls from persons in distress or, simply, from lonely individuals.

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Sister Corrine Foley

Sister was always gracious and patient. Her education ministry covered schools in four dioceses: Davenport, Des Moines, Great Falls/Billings and Phoenix. She taught in both elementary and high schools. She was at St. Anthony, Des Moines, three different times and always commented on how much she liked being there. In each case it was a group of imaginative students matched with an energetic teacher. During her last months at Bishop Drumm she would often have visits from former students. Politics and science were generally the topics of conversation.

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Sister Mary Rocca

Mary was a woman of many gifts that were shared with many people. She was a teacher in the elementary grades, nurse, English language teacher to people from other countries, playful clown for children and adults, sister to eight siblings, and “sister” to her CHM sisters and associates

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Sister Marie Ven Horst

She began the 8:00 a.m. class with a science experiment with flames or a loud noise just to make sure all were awake. Then she would declare, “Isn’t science wonderful!...she endeared herself to hundreds of science students and, later, to weekend graduate students with her excellent teaching, sound advice, and sense of humor.

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Sister Marie Ven Horst

Sister Helene broke the Ph.D. glass ceiling at the University of iowa in the chemistry and physics departments with her degree in 1952. Sister returned to Marycrest where she endeared herself to hundreds of science students and, later, to weekend graduate students with her excellent teaching, sound advice, and sense of humor.

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Sister Modesta Neubauer

We saw that very early that Sr. Modesta was interested in caring for others. This thread would run through all of her ministries, from caring for small children through assisting her CHM sisters who needed nursing care.

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Sister Joanne Mauro

Sister Joanne’s commitment to her family was definitely a ministry. She not only taught and counseled nieces and nephews but also grandnieces and nephews and cousins near and distant....She was definitely a woman of prayer.

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Sister Carolyn Mullin

She was a person who enjoyed life and accepted adversity with humor and common sense. She could quickly analyze an issue, accept what was relevant and not worry herself with what wasn’t. Her matter of fact way was both reassuring and often very humorous

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