26.09.1940 – 12.10.2024
Sr. Sheila Berthiaume was born in Canada, but the family moved to USA when she was an infant and made their home in Detroit, Michigan. She was one of four siblings, two girls and two boys. Her early education was in Detroit, and she entered MMM at the age of eighteen.
Already drawn towards the healing profession (she worked as a nurse’s aid part time during her teenage years), she went on to study Medicine in Ireland at University College, Dublin and gained all her post graduate training in the International Missionary Training Hospital (now Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital) in Drogheda. She specialized in surgery and had both paediatric and obstetrical/ gynaecological experience and was a qualified surgeon, FRCS Edinburgh Scotland.
Her assignment to East Africa began in 1970. Most of her work was in Tanzania, in both Makiungu and Dareda Hospitals, but she also had brief periods of relief work in Uganda.
Sr. Sheila was noted for her gentleness and kindness. She loved music and celebrated every holiday with beautiful decorations which she treasured from year to year. She was also very fond of flowers and plants and had a special love for turtles! Her love of music continued right up to the end of her life taking joy tapping her feet and keeping time to the music.
n 1996, Sr. Sheila returned to the USA to care for her elderly father, but afterwards returned to Tanzania and was the surgeon In Makiungu Hospital until she finally returned home in 2012. She cared for her brother, Dick, during his long illness.
Sr. Sheila lived for some years with her brother Gary in Chicago, but as her own health needs became more pressing, she returned to the MMM community in Somerville MA and her final years were in the Mary Immaculate Nursing Care facility in Lawrence, MA. Sr. Joanne Bierl MMM and the staff were with her when she quietly slipped away on October 12th, 2024. She will be deeply missed by her sister Gail and her husband Horst, her brother Gary, and all her family members and by her MMM sisters and the many whose life she touched. Her life will be celebrated at a memorial service in Somerville MA on 4 November 2024.
03 March 1945 –28 September 2024
Sr. Mary Ellen Sambuco died peacefully on September 28th in the early morning hours at Sancta Maria Nursing Facility in Cambridge not far from our MMM home in Somerville. She was born in Los Angeles but grew up and had all her early education in Irwin, Pennsylvania. After leaving school she studied for Licensed Practical Nursing, graduating in 1965. She worked for three years in paediatrics and obstetrical nursing on a Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota. It was there she met the Benedictine Sisters, and it was their mentoring and friendship that helped her find her way to MMM in Winchester MA in 1968. It was there as well that she developed an appreciation and love for indigenous American Indian culture and spirituality that was a part of her throughout her life.
From early days her many gifts were appreciated. She had a lovely singing voice and could play the guitar. She was kind and gentle. She also had a good sense of humour and a hearty laugh. One of her favorite musicians/singers was Pavarotti and his music gave her great peace and had a special place in her collection.
After her initial religious formation, she went to Northeastern University and graduated as a Registered Nurse. Then she went to Ireland and England for her Midwifery training and British registration which she would need for her future work in Malawi.
Sr. Mary Ellen went to Malawi in 1978 and began work in St. John’s Hospital in Mzuzu. She also worked both in Nkhata Bay and in Chipini. She worked in maternal and child health, and she had special skills and a gift in working with premature babies.
In 1992 she returned to USA. Her ministry during the following years was divided between assignments of maternal health and childcare, visiting families and community nursing and she had a special gift for working with children with special needs. Growing up she had one younger brother Sonny, who had Down’s Syndrome. Sonny was very special in her life, and she took responsibility for Sonny after their mother died. He was a beautiful soul and gave her a special love for all those with special needs.
Her final thirteen years were spent in the city of Somerville Housing Authority senior living center and she lived out her healing charism with the residents there and with music therapy for autistic children and visiting the elderly.
In September 2024 she needed hospice care as she was gravely ill. The Sisters in the MMM house in Somerville accompanied and nursed her during these final days of her journey of life. Her memorial service, the celebration of her life, and her burial will take place in early November 2024.
May Sr. Mary Ellen rest in eternal peace surrounded by her beloved brother Sonny, and her many friends and family who have gone before her.
Sr. Renee, baptised Bridget Mary, was born in 1943 in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim. She studied at local schools and at the age of seventeen was invited by relatives to the USA. There, for some years she worked as a bank teller in a bank in New York, but all the while discerning her vocation to religious life.
She joined MMM in America in 1964 and had her early formation years in Winchester MA. On returning to Ireland in 1967 she spent the next nine years training as nurse and midwife, studying theology and gaining some experience in the nursing field. She even had the privilege of nursing Mother Mary Martin, our foundress, for a year.
In 1977 she went to Malawi. Initially she was assigned to a remote clinic in Nkhata Bay, but after three years moved to St. John’s Hospital in Mzuzu. Here she was staff nurse and later matron of the hospital. At the same time, she was being called to MMM leadership at local level.
In 1985 her years in Malawi came to an abrupt halt when she was elected to the Central Leadership Team, at that time located in Mell, Drogheda. Later the Team moved to Dublin and Sr. Renee remained in Central Leadership for a full twelve years. In 1997 she was able to have some time for personal renewal in USA before being called to a new MMM adventure.
In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch, MMM decided to open a mission in Honduras and Sr. Renee was one of the founding members. She studied language in Mexico first and stayed in Honduras from 1998 right up to the closure of this mission at the end of 2021.
She loved her work in Honduras. She was a coordinator of a Pastoral Health Care Programme at parish level both in Marcala and in Choloma, programmes that integrated primary health care with pastoral work.
Sr. Renee was a gentle person, but one with a great sense of humour. She also had an innate wisdom and was a good friend.
In 2021, knowing that her time in Honduras would be ending soon, she volunteered for a new multi-cultural community that was being formed on the outskirts of Drogheda. Unfortunately, her health deteriorated, and she was unable to join this new venture. After some months of care in the clinic in Beechgrove, she was admitted to hospital and died peacefully on 28th July 2023 and is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery.
Sr. Mairead Gorman was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland in February 1931 and baptised Bridget. She came from a family of six, four girls and two boys. She had her schooling locally and in secondary school concentrated on secretarial skills. She went on to study this later in Belfast. After leaving school, Bridget worked for seven years as a shorthand typist and telephonist in Armagh before deciding to join MMM in 1957.
After her initial religious formation, she made profession of vows in 1959, taking the name Mairead. As she was already a qualified secretary and telephonist her skills were well used in the convent office in Drogheda for the first ten years of her missionary life.
In 1968 she travelled to Uganda, her first overseas assignment. After three years she asked to study for nursing and she returned to London where she did a nursing course in the North London School of Nursing, followed by midwifery studies in Drogheda.
On qualifying as a nurse midwife, Sr. Mairead was then assigned to Tanzania for two years before moving on the Ethiopia where she stayed for over twenty years and where she said she had left her heart. Initially she worked in the south of the country in famine relief and when that was brought under control, she moved to Dadim and worked with the Borana nomadic people for many years. She loved Ethiopia, the people, the work, and the climate. Her personality blossomed there, and she even learnt two of the native languages, Sidamo and Oromo. She spent 24 years of her life working in a variety of roles in different MMM missions, in Mikke and Awasa as well as Dadim, mainly nursing but also coordinating “Women in Development” programmes, Clinic and Community Health programmes and, in later years, AIDS programmes.
On her return to Ireland in 2005, Sr. Mairead lived in the community in Ashleigh Heights, Drogheda for several years before moving to the Motherhouse in 2017. In 2010 she did return to Ethiopia briefly to help close the mission in Addis Ababa. While living in Beechgrove, she was working in Aras Mhuire Nursing Home, helping in the office.
Sr. Mairead was noted for her gentleness and her ability to do small acts of kindness, almost unnoticed. She was wise, and in decision-making always weighed up the pros and cons carefully before coming to a conclusion. She enjoyed family visits and generally kept a positive attitude even during the years when her health needs increased. She had a good sense of humour but was often stubborn to change her mind once she was convinced of something! She was a good listener and not a gossiper.
For full time nursing care, she moved to Aras Mhuire Nursing home in May 2022, and she finally died there after a long illness on February 11th, 2024, just three days after her 93rd birthday. She is buried in Drogheda.
Sr. Jude Walsh, born in 1921 and baptised Mary Agnes, came from Tourlestrane, Co. Sligo. He was known in the family as “May”. Her primary education was local, but she attended St. Louis Convent, Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo for her secondary education. After school she qualified as a pharmacist as a Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (MPSI), She remained working in Dublin and worked there for a year before joining MMM in 1947. Several years later in 1978, she was given an Honorary Fellowship in Pharmacy (FPSL) for her many years of service throughout the world to those less well off.
In 1947, she wrote to Mother Mary Martin, expressing her interest in the Medical Missionaries of Mary. Mother Mary immediately saw in this young woman great potential and gave her a date to come, almost immediately!
In 1950, now called Sr. Jude, she was professed and soon found herself, at last, on her way to the place of her dreams, Nigeria, several weeks journey by boat. There she worked in the first foundation of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, Anua Hospital, setting up the pharmacy and training local staff to run it with her. After two very happy years she was transferred to another newly built MMM hospital at Afikpo, to repeat the same process and a few years later she was off again to the next new hospital in Obudu to do the same. It was a time of great expansion for the Medical Missionaries of Mary. In Ireland, USA, Britain, girls and women with religious vocations were pouring into Drogheda and soon young women in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania were feeling this mysterious call to devote their lives to God and the missions.
The Medical Missionaries of Mary Convent in Drogheda, the Motherhouse, was brimming over with young sisters and Sr. Jude was called home to be the sister-in-charge. There she worked closely with the MMM Foundress, Mother Mary Martin imbibing her spirit and vision for the young congregation. From then on, her life was in leadership, in Ireland, USA, Brazil, and as Mother General of the Congregation for eleven years. During these years she travelled to all the MMM communities in Africa, South America, Europe, United States, Brazil and Taiwan where we had one community.
Eventually she handed over her leadership roles and at 67 years of age, still a young woman, went to Masaka in Uganda to the MMM Kitovu Hospital where she found herself again in the ministry she loved, Pharmacy. Sr. Jude was the old type of pharmacist who knew the ingredients for mixtures and creams, which had worked very well in her pharmacy in Rathmines in Dublin and now, worked just as well, and were less expensive for the people of Masaka area who at that time were suffering from the AIDS pandemic. Of course, all the modern drugs were also available but many times these mixtures worked much better and had few, if any, side effects. The next five years in Uganda, she said, were among the happiest of her life.
However, the life of a Medical Missionary of Mary is not planned by the individual and in 1999 Sr. Jude was in the air again, this time to Chicago for six years to help with fundraising for the mission needs of the congregation.
Sr. Jude stayed in Chicago until poor eyesight forced her return in 1999. She became an active member of the Drogheda MMM community in Beechgrove, always the first to greet guests as they come to visit. She was known as a great correspondent with friends all over the world. Her Christmas post weighed down the postman!
In November 2020, Sr. Jude moved to Aras Mhuire Nursing Home for extra care and there she celebrated 100th birthday in August 2021. She enjoyed the celebration and was in close contact with her family. Gradually her health began to fail, and she died peacefully on October 12th, 2023. She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Drogheda.
Sr. Maureen Clarke, baptized Maureen Margaret, was born in Leeds, England in July 1934, of Irish parents and enjoyed her dual nationality. Her early education was local in Doncaster but attended a Sisters of Mercy boarding school for her secondary education. After leaving school, she helped her mother in the running of the family hotel for some years before attending a Secretarial Course and joining the Civil Service. She was posted to Scarborough to the Inland Revenue Valuation Office.
Maureen joined MMM in 1959 and came to the Novitiate in Drogheda. As a second-year novice, she was already working in the Admissions Office in the I.M.T.H (now Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital). As a young Sister, she worked in the Editor’s office and in promotion work where her secretarial skills were well used.
Following her Final Profession of Vows in 1967, Maureen went to Dublin and did a Social Science degree at University College, Dublin. This was followed by a postgraduate course in Social Work and Social Administration at York University and work experience in Cheshire as a social worker with the County Council.
In 1975, Sr. Maureen went to Kenya and was involved in social work in Eldoret and also helped other organizations by carrying out social surveys. She returned to Ireland in 1980 and was assigned accompany lay volunteers, helping them with their visa applications and general orientation. In 1981, she went to England to care for her elderly mother and took up responsibilities in the Romiley community which had been established in 1979. She was employed by the local authority as a social worker, specializing in work with mental disability and eldercare. For two years she moved into more specialized work for the Alzheimer’s Disease Society of Birmingham.
In 1992, Sr. Maureen transferred to London, to the Ealing community. Here she did part-time counselling and was the contact person for vocations and MMM Associates. She also assumed a Leadership role. She stayed in Ealing until December 2019, when she returned to retire in the Motherhouse.
Sr, Maureen was a soft-spoken, kind and gentle person. She was always attentive to the needs of others and had a quiet sense of humour.
In September 2023, Sr. Maureen transferred to Aras Mhuire for extra nursing care but shortly afterwards was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. She died there peacefully on October 11th, 2023. She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Drogheda.
Kathleen Mary Jones was born in Bagnalstown, Co. Carlow in May 1933. She was the youngest of nine children. Her early education was local and after her secondary education she worked in a hairdressing salon, rising quickly to be manager of a salon in Cork. But her attraction was not to the beauty industry but to a life of service to the poor and needy. Kathleen joined MMM in 1954, aged 21, taking the name of Sr. M. Celine.
After her First Profession of Vows, Celine was in charge of catering in the Maternity Hospital in Drogheda. At the same time, she studied typing and book-keeping, skills she knew would be useful in her future life overseas. After four years her desire was granted. She was assigned to Nigeria, Use-Abat, Anua and Ibadan where she worked as Sister in Charge and Hospital Secretary. During her time in Use-Abat, she was also given responsibility for the orphanage. This sparked her love of children, and this stayed with her throughout her life. Sr. Celine worked in Nigeria between 1961 and 1977.
Unfortunately, Celine’s missionary life in Nigeria was punctuated by a period of ill health. All through the years, Celine’s health has been delicate, but it never stopped her giving herself, heart and soul into any project she was involved in. When in Ireland she helped with promotion work, the Dublin Sale of Work and she even was assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature for several years in the 1980s. During these periods in Ireland, she upgraded her education with a Diplomas in Community Development and the Residential Care of Children and Young People.
In 1993, Celine’s health had improved, and she desired a return to overseas mission. A change of climate was advised, and so she went to Uganda and the community of Makondo. Here she ran a nursery school, looking after many orphans during the HIV/Aids epidemic. This doubled with social work in the school food project and housing aid. Makondo and its needs was never far from her heart and even on her eventual return to Ireland she ceaselessly fund-raised so that the work could continue. Throughout her life she was a great correspondent with many people, and they returned the correspondence and offered donations for the work at the same time. Sr. Celine was a very sociable, out-going person and many people remark on her kindness to them.
Sr. Celine returned to Ireland finally in 2011. For some years she was attached to the Bettystown community, offering hospitality to the Sisters who needed rest. When the house closed for repairs, she moved into the Motherhouse community and had an active retirement when her health allowed it, working in the Stamp Department, and visiting Aras Mhuire Nursing Home.
Sr. Celine herself transferred to Aras Mhuire in August 2022 and her health declined slowly. She died peacefully on 27th September 2023. She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Drogheda.
Agnes Manifold was born in Dublin in January 1931. Her early education was in Dublin and after secondary school she studied secretarial skills in a further education college. She worked in Dublin for a few years and then joined MMM in 1962.
After her initial religious formation, Sr. Agnes had a lot of varied experiences, helping MMM in Ireland when it was in its phase of expansion. She helped with the Dublin Sale of work, in the office in the Maternity Hospital in Drogheda and even did a spell in the Apostolic Nunciature in Dublin.
During this time, Mother Mary realised the great need for Sisters to fly small planes in Africa. They carried medical supplies, ferried patients to hospital, and doctors to remote clinics. Some Sisters were already trained, and Sr. Agnes was called upon to be one of that small band of women pilots. She trained at Dublin airport and received her pilot’s license in 1971. Sr. Agnes was a very versatile person, able to adapt to situations where needs arose and always ready to say ‘yes’.
In 1972 she went to Uganda for a short period and then on to Kenya where she used her flying skills in the Turkana Desert. But this was a brief period in her life, as she was called home to Ireland to do Mission Awareness work in various dioceses for three years – 1975 to 1978.
On her return to Kenya, Agnes trained in clinical pastoral care and worked in Lokitaung, Eldoret and Kitale. She finally left Kenya in 1990. In Ireland she had a brief assignment to Kilmacow where MMM ran a Nursing Home and Agnes helped out in both pastoral care and as the bursar and then, in 1992, Agnes made another major cultural change. This time it was to Nigeria where she used her secretarial skills and also worked as a pastoral minister in Benin City and Ibadan for four years.
Agnes returned to Ireland from Nigeria in 1997 and for the next few years worked as a bursar and in pastoral ministry in several of our houses, Mell, Kilmacow and Artane. During this period, she had the chance to return again to Kenya for one year, helping out in the Kitale community and working with women’s groups in the parish to promote income generating projects.
Sr. Agnes finally came to the Motherhouse community in 2017 when her health needed more attention. She was an active member in community and enjoyed visitors and family visits. She was a lively and entertaining member of community, full of energy and in her young days, was a gifted Irish dancer. She was the life and soul of any group of any age.
As her health began to deteriorate, she finally moved to Aras Mhuire in 2019 for extra care and she died peacefully on Sunday, 27th August 2023. She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Drogheda.
Sr. M. Pacelli Ward, baptised Margaret Mary and known as May, was born in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan, in October 1926. Her early education was in the local primary school, followed by secondary education at St. Louis Convent School.
In 1950, Margaret went to Dublin to study pharmacy, but at the same time, she must have been attracted to religious life, as she entered MMM early in 1951, continuing her studies as a postulant and as a second-year novice. This would have been common in the early days of MMM. At the time of her First Profession of Vows, she took the religious name of Sr. M. Pacelli.
She remained in Ireland for only a year after her Profession. Newly qualified in pharmacy she set out for a lifetime of service to the poor and needy using these skills. Her first assignment was to Nigeria, to Anua Hospital, where she was the pharmacist for nine years. During this time, she helped train local people in basic pharmacy skills.
In 1968 she was asked to return to Ireland. She was given the responsibility of being the Sister in Charge of the MMM community at Airmount Hospital in Waterford. This was a three- year assignment followed by updating in pharmacy in London and Drogheda. Then Sr. Pacelli was ready for yet another adventure!
This time it was to East Africa, the place that became home to her. She arrived in 1973 and her first assignment was to Namanyere, Tanzania. This was followed by Dareda, Makiungu and also Kabanga and Masaka in Uganda. In 1987, Sr. Pacelli returned to Ireland to “retire”. She worked in parish work in Dublin for a few years, but the desire to return to East Africa was strong! So, in 1989, off she went again for another thirteen years. This was mostly in Kabanga Hospital in Tanzania.
In 1992, Sr. Pacelli returned to the Motherhouse in Drogheda where she was an active member of the community for several years. She was a woman of many gifts and talents, artistic and outgoing and adaptable to changes around her.
She was always very close to her family in Monaghan. On one occasion when on home leave, her sister-in-law became ill, and Pacelli looked after the children for a few months until things returned to normal. The same children, now well into adulthood, have happy memories of those months when she looked after them and they continue to have a great relationship with her.
In 2022, she transferred to Áras Mhuire Nursing Home as her health was declining. In 2023, her health deteriorated further, and she died peacefully on 24th July 2023. She is buried in Drogheda.
Sr. M. Adalbert Simakova (Bibi) was born in Masov, Czech Republic, Petrovice, Czechoslovakia, the daughter of Anastasie (née Prochazkova) and Frantrisek Simakova and was the second in a family of five. She was baptised Bozena Marie.