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July 14, 2020
Sisters of Mercy West Midwest are celebrating 14 of their community for their years of ministry and commitment to the Mercy Community. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in person gatherings have been cancelled. Visit www.sistersofmercy.org/west-midwest/west-midwest-2020-jubilarians/.
25 Year Jubilarians
Sister Maureen Kelly, RSM has spent her years of ministry in health care as a chaplain with people facing major health issues at Scripps Mercy Hospital and San Diego Hospice.
Sister Karen Kielb, RSM began her ministry with seniors at Presentation Senior Housing in San Francisco and since has been a chaplain at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland. “The elderly have been for me the mirror of God’s love,” she said.
Sister Suzanne Krawczyk, RSM began her nursing ministry at St Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit later moving into palliative care. “The gift of my life in Mercy is that through ministry I could be present to those in need at the bedside, in administrative meetings and when providing spiritual direction.”
50 Year Jubilarians
Sister Marie Eloise Rosenblatt, RSM, taught at Mercy High School, Burlingame, and Mercy High School, San Francisco. She is an attorney and additionally holds a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Sister Hope Sanchez, RSM, ministered at St. Mary’s Hospital later becoming director of the Silver Penny Farm Retreat Center, a post she held for 18 years. She then moved to Bakersfield and is now the coordinator of extraordinary ministers of holy Communion for Mercy hospitals.
60 Year Jubilarians
Sister Patricia Beirne, RSM, has served as an elementary school teacher and principal in both the San Francisco and Los Angeles archdioceses. In 1989 she became an administrator at the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center at Mount St. Mary’s College and has been its director since 2006.
Sister Rosann Fraher, RSM, attended Mercy High School, San Francisco. Her primary ministry has been as a teacher and administrator in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. She was principal of Mercy High School, Burlingame from 1993 to 2003 and currently works with immigrant women at The Lantern Center for Hospitality & Education in San Francisco.
Sister Mary Timothy Gallagher, RSM, has served for 60 years in nursing, many years at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. From 1996 until her retirement in 2015 she served as St. Mary’s nursing manager and nursing coordinator.
Sister Toni Lynn Gallagher, RSM, after years as a classroom teacher became religious education coordinator at St. Stephen Parish and at St. Peter School. She also worked with the Fordham Group on HIV education. She currently serves as bereavement coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and volunteer librarian at St. Peter’s.
Sister Bernadette Hart, RSM, began in elementary education where she taught more than 1,300 students over 36 years. She was in vocation ministry and now is a spiritual director and director of retreats She continues as a staff member at St. Gabriel Parish.
Sister Marilyn King, RSM, grew up in Holy Name of Jesus Parish and the Sisters of Mercy were her teachers. She taught at Mercy High School, Burlingame, and San Francisco. Since 1993 she has been director of lifelong formation and education at St. Joseph Proto Cathedral in Bardstown, Kentucky.
70 Year Jubilarians
Sister Barbara Moran, RSM, holds a doctorate in English from The Catholic University of America and taught at school’s including Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, and the University of San Francisco.
Sister Paulina Simms, RSM, first taught at Our Lady of Angels School, Burlingame. She later taught and was administrator at schools including San Francisco’s St. Peter and St. Stephen, and St. Catherine, Burlingame serving as principal at St. Peter’s from 1984 to 2002.
Sister Maria Juanita van Bommel, RSM, taught at schools including St Gabriel, St. Anthony and St. Peter in San Francisco and Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame. She has also ministered with the homeless and in detention ministry. Sister Maria is a poet with a published collection, “Reflections: Food for Thought.”