Sister Mary Ann Hettel

(Sister John Mark)

One of Sister Mary Ann’s most precious memories is sitting under a tree with her parents, sharing cola and bologna sandwiches during her Dad’s lunch break from his work in the fields. Another memory is peddling her bike to Mass in the summer with her older brother, then a seminarian. It was a happy life she led in Monroeville, Ohio.

Mary Ann felt the call to religious life at First Communion. A Sister who taught in the four-classroom school she attended made a great impression; Mary Ann wanted to be like her. There were five girls in her eighth-grade class and she and two others entered a convent-school after graduation. Although the desire for religious life remained strong, Mary Ann did not continue in that congregation.

After high school, she found clerical work at a local hospital where she met Sisters Francis Marie Schaffer and Angela Carabin who had come from Illinois to attend a dying relative. It impressed Mary Ann that these Sister-nurses were taking care of family. Further interaction with Sister Francis Marie, who had a reputation for quick action with potential candidates, led to entrance with the SSCMs. Deep faith and self-sacrifice impelled Mary Ann to leave the life and family she loved for an unknown horizon. The flight from Cleveland to Chicago changed her life.

Were there doubts? Yes. When a trunk full of her clothing was long delayed, Mary Ann told God that if it did not come within a week, she would be leaving. The trunk arrived the next day. Was there loneliness? Yes. When the other Sisters had monthly visiting days with family, a Sister, stationed near-by, took the postulant under her wing, and helped fill the Sunday afternoons. Over the years, other SSCM Sisters sprinkled her life with care and support. She mentions with love and respect Sisters Myra Dionne and Agnes Cunningham.

Sister Mary Ann spent decades serving in the Catholic school system. Her greatest joy was teaching middle graders and junior high students. As a principal, she encouraged and formed new teachers in their profession. Sister Mary Ann “loved every part of education”.

Marian devotion is a strong component of Sister Mary Ann’s life, and the Charism of the congregation is part of her essence. Faith is the extension of her birth family’s deep faith. Self-giving urged her to leave the life she lived for the unknown. Family spirit is a love relationship ever growing. “Charism isn’t a plaque on a wall…it is evolving, reaching many people!”

A life-long learner, Sister Mary Ann now concentrates on learning from and about the elderly. As a Senior Companion for Catholic Charities, she is enriched by listening to clients’ stories and learning about the aging process. She has companioned persons during the last months of their lives. In this way, she feels that she has come “full cycle” from that teen-ager who met Sisters caring for a relative, mirroring now the care they gave then.

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