As one of the original residents of the Sisters of Mount Scared Heart Convent, Sister Stella has walked the halls of what is now our Transitional Living and Learning Center (TLLC) off and on for 50 years.
Sister Stella has known she wanted to be a nun since an early age. As a child with a ‘mischievous’ personality her parents sent her away to a boarding school run by nuns to ‘straighten’ her out; which only strengthened her resolve to be one.
After years of making her wishes known but not being taken seriously, she was disappointed, but not defeated, She had faith that if she was meant to be a nun, God would make a way.
Then in 1955, she was introduced to two nuns who were in the Order of Mt. Sacred Heart. They saw “something special” in her and invited her to start her training at Mt. Sacred Heart.
Three years later she took her Profession and began her studies at Incarnate Word where she earned degrees in Elementary Education and History.
She taught and coached at Mt. Scared Heart for 14 years. Then she was called to teach at schools in New Mexico, Texas, and finally in Oklahoma. Sister Stella suffered a stroke and, after 38 years, her teaching days were over. She then returned to the Mt. Sacred Heart Convent for her retirement years.
She was living at the convent, when the Sisters realized that the Order’s age and size could no longer afford the cost of maintaining the convent. In 2000, the perfect match was struck when SAMMinistries offered to buy the Mt. Sacred Heart Convent and use it for a transitional program for 40 families.
After the nuns found housing in the neighborhood, Sister Stella began searching for a place to begin volunteering and her search took her right back where she had started her service 45 years earlier.
The first director of TLLC had been in training at Mt. Sacred Heart when Sister Stella was in college. The Director had typed papers for Sister Stella, so now she wanted to repay the favor by helping her at TLLC.
Nine years later, Sister Stella is still volunteering twice a week at TLLC. She offers a wealth of historical knowledge about the facility and is always willing to share her stories of the past.
We are blessed to have her presence at TLLC- a place she called her home over 50 years ago! And we thank her for her years of service to SAMMinistries! She truly is “something special”!
