Sister Monica Charles Stankus, OP

Transcription

1 Sister Monica Charles Stankus, OP Sister Monica Charles, baptized Donna Mae Stankus, was born at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago on July 6, She was the only child of Charles C. and Mercedes (Fair) Stankus. Her mother expected the baby to be a boy and had chosen a boy s name and even a blue layette. Her parents finally decided to name their baby girl Donna. In her autobiography, Sister Monica shared the following about her early life and the reason her family moved to Henderson, Nevada. When I was five, mother decided that I was too little to go to kindergarten so I began first grade at St. Ethelreda School with the Mercy Sisters. When I was in the sixth grade, the doctor told my mother that she was a prime candidate for TB and the family should consider moving to a warmer climate. I left the 6th grade during Easter break and we started driving west, finally ending up in Las Vegas. Because Dad was a vet we could get temporary housing in Victory Village in Henderson, diagonally across Boulder Highway from St. Rose de Lima Hospital. This was in The hospital opened in In a few weeks we bought a home in Las Vegas and Dad got a job as an electrician. After finishing grade school, Sister Monica attended Las Vegas High School, the only high school in town. After graduating in 1954, she wanted to go to college, but her dad didn t believe girls needed a college education. Her mother, however, changed his mind and Monica studied at St. Mary of the Wasatch College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated in 1958 with a bachelor s degree in medical technology and returned to Las Vegas. In her autobiography, Sister Monica described her search for a job. After taking the summer off, I started looking for a job. There was nothing in Las Vegas so Mother suggested that I look at St. Rose Hospital. I did not want to have to drive 25 miles to work. Still no job in Vegas was available. Mother said, At least ride out to see if they have an opening in the lab. I agreed to do that praying hard there would be no opening there either. I was wrong; they hired me on the spot. There were only three registered med techs in the whole state of Nevada: the three of us in the lab: two fellows and myself. We took turns every third night on call, and every third weekend. This was September The following year, February 1959, Sister Monica was a patient at St. Rose Hospital for a surgical procedure. The night nurse, who was a Sister, stopped by to visit her and eventually asked her if she ever considered religious life. Because she had been dating someone in Salt Lake City, Sister Monica quickly dismissed the thought of religious life. But the Sister on night duty kept visiting and Monica thought, damn nuns. However, since she was not that excited about marriage ( no bells and whistles ) she decided to enter. Now she had to face her mother. She wrote: So I told Mom that I was going to enter. The tears that followed could have elevated the water level at Lake Mead. She was thinking no babies. I tried to plead my case by telling her she shouldn t have put all her eggs in one basket. Wrong strategy! I am sure she prayed like crazy that I wouldn t stay, but I liked it and I stayed. In the end, my mother s friends were being saddled with their grandchildren because of divorce, and she was finally pleased that I made the choice I did. 1

2 Sister Monica entered the postulate on September 8, 1959 and the following year received her religious name, Sister Monica Charles. After first profession on August 5, 1961, she began her health care ministry that would extend over the next forty-five years. Sister Monica s first eleven years were in Santa Cruz, California, where the Congregation formally began its hospital ministry in 1941when it opened an 18-bed hospital that was known as Sisters Hospital. By the time Monica arrived in Santa Cruz in 1961 the Congregation was administering two hospitals: Sisters Hospital on West Cliff Drive and a second hospital, known as Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital, located near the downtown area that had been purchased from a physician group in Sister Monica s first assignment was at Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital, where she served as medical technologist for just five months. In January 1962 she was assigned to Sisters Hospital, where she continued to serve as Chief Medical Technologist until that hospital closed in December It was being replaced by the new Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital, which was built on a 17-acre site on the outskirts of the city. This hospital was officially opened December 1967, the same month that Sisters Hospital closed. All services from both of the first two hospitals were consolidated in the new facility. Sister Monica served as Chief Medical Technologist at the new hospital for the next four years. During this period, holding a leadership position without having a master s degree was becoming an issue in many California hospitals. Sister Monica requested time to study and, after one year at Wayne State University, Detroit, she received her master s degree in While studying at Wayne State, she learned about the new positions available at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. They were hiring med techs for cancer research at the cellular level. She applied for a position and was hired in During her sixth year at NIH, Sister Monica received a call from Adrian asking her to come to Maria Hall to do the hiring and evaluating of the professional staff. She agreed to take the position for three years so she could return to NIH without losing her seniority. As planned, Sister Monica returned to NIH in the summer of 1983 and continued working there for the next fifteen years. By the summer of 1998, she was eligible for retirement and resigned her position Following a sabbatical year, Sister Monica returned to Las Vegas and lived with her mother until she died. Within a short time she accepted the position of Vice President for Mission at St Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson. She continued to minister there for ten years. It was during this period that Sister Monica became aware of her memory loss and decided to resign her position in June Sister Monica died on December 26, 2016, at the age of eighty and in the fifty-sixth year of her religious profession. During the wake service Sister Maria Goretti Browne, Vicaress of the Adrian Vicariate, shared the following. Monica came to live here in the DLC in December of 2012, just four years ago. Though her memory failed, her personality did not. She continued to be that gentle, warm, peaceful, loving person that she had always been. We will miss you, Monica. May you now have eternal peace. The following are excerpts from remembrances read during the wake service. From Sisters Lois Paha and Rina Cappellazzo Monica s medical experience and skill as well as her long-time commitment to our institutions never got in the way of her personal interest in ministries of the sisters in the Rio Grande Mission Group. We are privileged to have known such a generous and gifted woman who was always willing to use her God-given talents for the good of others. May she rest in peace! 2

3 From Sister Pat Stellmah: Monica had always wanted to go on the Lands of Dominic Pilgrimage or to a retreat at Fanjeaux retreat. In 2008 she and I went together to Fanjeaux. I was a blessed to share this prayerful time and place with her. From Sister Judy Silva: I am so grateful for her great friendship and the great memories of our time together. I am so blessed because of her gift of gentleness, caring and love. Her memories will be in my heart forever. From Sister Vicki Dalesandro: Monica had a separate prayer room in her home and cultivated her relationship with God just as she did with people. She loved sports and probably included her favorite team, the Washington Redskins, in her prayers. Her dedication to prayer was obvious when she went to the Dominican Life Center because she prayed the rosary daily with the Sisters. From Sister Mary Kay Drouin: Monica s gracious acceptance of her journey and her daily expressions of gratitude to everyone who in any way ministered to her was a gift to behold. This gentle, humble woman seemed unaware that she was the one ministering to us. I will forever carry Monica in my heart and with gratitude: I was touched by this Angel. In her homily, Sister Carleen Maly said, As members of Monica s crowd present here and across the country, as well as others who have shared reflections on Monica s life among us, it has become very evident that she got this Gospel 1 message Jesus was her way, her truth, and the center of her life. She embraced that wholeheartedly. As one of our crowd said so well, Monica fully lived two commitments the first to embrace religious life completely, knowing clearly how much she was loved by God and wanted to draw deeper to God in prayer as she lived her vowed commitment. And secondly, she fully lived her service to others through her ministry as a medical technologist. Monica the Valiant Woman, filled with God s life, never held back in giving with arms outstretched, with patience, caring and concern for our sisters and nursing staff here at Maria, and to those behind the scenes at St. Rose Hospital the kitchen, dietary, and maintenance departments. In her years of diminishment she touched us with life moments of recognition and remembering, and laughing, and kisses and hugs. 1 John 14: 1-6 3

4 Left: Accepting the Collaboration Award in the early 2000s are, from left, Sisters Michael Thomas Watson, Beverly Bobola, and Monica Stankus Left: Sister Monica, right, with her secretary, Beverly Coletti, at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, Feast of St. Rose of Lima Right: Sister Monica with her parents. 4

5 Left: Sister Amy Hoey, RSM, left, and Sister Monica celebrate Mardi Gras at the Ritz Carlton in Henderson, Nevada, March 1,