Sisters of Charity celebrate Golden Jubilees

On June 26, nine Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) celebrated their Golden Jubilees, commemorating their 50 years in the religious community.

The Golden Jubilee celebration began with a mass for family and friends of the Golden Jubilarians in the Annunciation Chapel in the Mother House of the campus of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. Directly following, there was a reception in Ryan Sports Center on the campus of the University of Saint Mary.

The nine sisters who observed their Golden Jubilees this year include Sister Susan Chase, Sister Carol Depner, Sister Maureen Hall, Sister Barbara Kushan, Sister Roberta O’Leary, Sister Jean Anne Panisko, Sister Marianna Bauder, Sister Helen Bristow and Sister Paula Rose Jauernig.

These nine sisters have served in various walks of life, including nursing, cooking, mission work and education. Now, they work in such positions and places as the Marillac Retreat Center, the chaplaincy department of St. Mary’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, professors at the University of Saint Mary and in various leadership roles in the Sister of Charity of Leavenworth Community.

Three of the sisters who celebrated their Golden Jubilees are Leavenworth natives.

Sisters Marianna Bauder, Helen Bristow (Bauder’s cousin) and Paula Rose Jauernig each have roots in Leavenworth and found vocational inspiration from the Sisters of Charity.

Sister Marianna Bauder was born Sept. 13, 1943, at Saint John Hospital, and SCL community members have figured prominently in her life since her first moments, when Sister Helen Smith baptized her directly following her birth. Her aunt was Sister Jeanne Marie Zeugin, and fellow Jubilarian Sister Helen Bristow is her first cousin.

“I entered (the community) with the novitiate class of 1961, and the adventure started,” Sister Marianna wrote in “Voices of Charity,” the SCL magazine.

Though she spent some time after her first profession teaching, she found herself intrigued by hospitals and medical technology so she returned to Leavenworth to receive her undergraduate degree in chemistry and biology from Saint Mary College. In addition to starting as a intern and working her way up to hospital CEO,  Sister Marianna had the opportunity to visit Ecuador and “outfit” hospitals in the Amazon with better equipment, and also took supplies to the Ukraine after the country’s difficult years with communism.

“These were very enriching experiences,” Sister Marianna wrote. “I even have an Ecuadorian godchild, Andrea Vergara!”
She then served 12 years on the Community Coucil at SCL, and will soon be involved with the development of Leaven Ministries.

“My heart is filled with gratitude and love for our Community,” sister Marianna wrote. “My experiences have been wonderful. There have been a couple of times when I didn't know if I would be alive to celebrate our 50th, but here I am!”

Sister Helen Bristow is another Leavenworth native, born on April 5, 1943, in Wichita, Kan., and says that the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth were a blessing to her even before her birth. Her mother’s family was educated by SCL, and she shares an aunt, Sister Jeanne Marie Zeugin, with Sister Marianna.

During her 50 years in the religious community, Sister Helen has served in elementary and secondary education systems all over Kansas. She currently works in health care ministry at Duchesne Clinic in Kansas City, and wrote in “Voices of Charity” that she has been able to use her degrees in religious education and counseling to serve others.

Sister Helen credits her loving parents for instilling in her basic Christian values, but there have also been many Sisters, friends, spiritual guides, co-workers, parishioners and clients who have influenced Sister Helen’s life and “revealed the face of God and strengthened (her) to continue living this vocation.”

Sister Helen is thankful for the Sisters in her community who have mentored her by example of their holy, faithful commitment to God, and those who have assured her that her life in this vocation is worth living.
“But most of all, I thank our loving God for making me who I am, for forgiveness when I falter and grace for another opportunity to be transformed,” Sister Helen wrote.

Sister Paula Rose Jauernig was born on Oct. 19, 1943, and says that she grew up on the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth campus.
She and her siblings played there, attended Mass in the chapel, pulled weeds from the brick roads with Sister Mary Finbarr McCarthy, received piano lessons from Sister Rose Matthew Sillers and some of the family’s baby pictures were taken in the Mother House parlor.
One Christmas, Sister Paula Rose’s Betsy-Wetsy doll served as the Baby Jesus in the outdoor Christmas manger.

Sister Paula Rose’s ministry has centered around nursing, but she has also worked in a convent kitchen, done “playground duty” and taught remedial reading, religion and second grade. Though she admits her food service years were full of learning and laughter, she was grateful to Mother Leo Frances Ryan when, after her final vows in August 1969, she was allowed to take a nurse’s aide course.

“Nursing has been a mission and ministry that has provided me the oppotunity to better understand my relationship with my patients and their families, co-workers, myself, the community and with God,” Sister Paula Rose wrote. “I have witnessed the grace of God over and over again. Nurses are admitted into people’s life and death spaces with indiscriminate acts of trust and faith.”

Congratulations to all nine Sisters of Charity who celebrated their Golden Jubilee.