Sister Stories

Sister Mary Charlene Olear

She began her 46 years of teaching at St. Anthony School in Des Moines followed by Sacred Heart School in West Des Moines; St. Theresa, Des Moines; Our Lady of Lourdes, Bettendorf; St. Alphonsus, Davenport; St. Joseph, Great Falls, MT; St. Mary, Centerville, IA; All Saints in Stuart, IA; St. Louis the King, Phoenix, AZ; Gehlen High School, LeMars, IA; Colo Community Public School in Colo, IA; and West Marshall High School, State Center, IA. After she retired from teaching in 1992, she cared for various elderly friends in Marshalltown who needed a driver, someone to visit them, call them, or pick up their groceries. She also sent birthday cards to dozens of people and an annual Christmas letter to many more.

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Sister Elizabeth Anne Schneider

Psalm 102 “So my soul sings songs to you unceasingly.” She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 1949 from Marycrest College, her Master of Arts degree in music in 1950 from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and her PhD in higher education in 1970 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She continued music education at the University of Iowa, Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota. Psalm 102 “Oh my God I will thank you forever.” Sr. Elizabeth Anne’s ministry in music education took place in Davenport at St. Vincent as music teacher from 1953 – 1960 and at Marycrest College as a faculty member from 1953–1966.

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Sister Molly Munoz

​Sister Molly has been working in Hispanic pastoral ministry with migrant workers since 1993. She is known in Colorado as the "Mother Teresa of the Latinos," traveling hundreds of miles per month, working seven days a week, attending to the migrants' physical, spiritual and emotional needs

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Sister Irene Munoz

God was manifested to me in so many ways by the faces and actions of the people I served...I was the one being evangelized!

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Sister Margaretha Fitzgerald

Sister Greta posts in "A Nun's Pocket" about her life of prayer

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Sister Mary Ruth Morris

Just think of the miles covered from high school science classes in Iowa, Montana and Arizona; to medical records training and work in Omaha, Nebraska, Ottumwa, Iowa, and Normal, Illinois; to teaching in Ghana with the Peace Corps; to teaching GED and reading classes in Mississippi; to quilting in Davenport; and catching up with reading at Bishop Drumm. Think of all the “thank you’s” that have been offered and how many people have felt a warm glow because of them. Perhaps the best tribute we could offer to Sister Mary Ruth Morris would be our own effort to say “thank you” more often.

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Sister Marian Smith

While Sr. Marian, an only child, was in the novitiate, her father died, leaving her mother a young widow. After teaching in parochial schools for many years, in 1975 Sr. Marian was offered a position in the Fulton Illinois public school system, about 20 miles from Erie.

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Sister Donna Schmitt

I see my ministry of prayer as one small quilt piece of its own color and design. It is combined with many quilt pieces made by thousands of people, adding to the beauty of this quilt presented to our God in praise, gratitude, asking forgiveness, requesting mercy and our concerns. This is a most vivid picture in my mind.

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Sister Joann Kuebrich

I felt the pull to continue in the footsteps of Marilyn. In so doing I, along with other members of the CHM community, are assuring that the legacy of our congregation lives on in the neighborhood....

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Sister Johanna Rickl

The gentle hum of 500 indigenous voices locks me into a oneness that is overpowering...The holiness was palpable at that outdoor Holy Thursday liturgy in the highlands of Mexico...

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Sister Delphine Vasquez

From a sparked interest in some caterpillar eggs to creating a nursery and sanctuary for monarch butterflies, a passion for helping the earth takes flight!...

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Sister Carla Takes

Lucille Catherine Takes was born in Cascade, Iowa, in 1925. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1954 and made her final profession in 1960 receiving the religious name Mary Carla. Her life as a Sister of Humility was one focused on a ministry in education. Starting in 1960 Sister Carla was director of student services at Ottumwa Heights College for ten years and then the registrar for another ten. She was the registrar at Assumption High School from 1979 to 1995. From 1998 to 2002 she worked in the library at Marycrest International University until her retirement. During retirement Sr. Carla dedicated many hours and years to volunteering at the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center.

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Sister Mary Ann Vogel

There was much activity in the housing industry in the late 1980s. The goal was to end homelessness in ten years. Many religious communities were moving from education and health care and getting involved with housing for the homeless.

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Sister Caridad Inda

This proved a blessing as my mentor was Dr. Brady Tyson, a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Andrew Young, and others in the forefront of the movement for nonviolent action for liberation that energized the march on Selma and other actions.

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Sister Kevin Bissell

Sr. Kevin said that at some time she taught every subject except commercial courses, music and modern languages. She did community development work among Eskimo communities in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, and her organizing skills were applied to the design and implementation of large scale international research projects. Sr. Kevin had a wonderful sense of humor, often resulting in laughter from a table in the dining room. She was a voracious reader and watchdog of TV news. On occasion she shared her knowledge of political history with the congregation and through letters to the editor.

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