SXU Sister of Mercy Jubilarians to celebrate in Chicago
Chicago Sisters of Mercy of the Mercy West Midwest Community will celebrate Jubilees marking from 60 to 80 years of religious life on April 29 at Mercy Circle, 3659 W. 99th Street, Chicago, Ill. They all are either graduates of Saint Xavier University (SXU) or have served on the University faculty. Their varied ministries have included elementary and college teaching, nursing, art education and care for the homeless. Several have had responsibilities for leadership and vocations in the local Mercy Community.
The jubilarians are: 80 years -- Sister Helen Weinfurter; 75 years -- Sister Mary Fearon, Sister Maura Lowrey and Sister Renee Humble; 70 years -- Sister Mary Lois Bartnicki; 60 years -- Sister Sheila Breen, Sister Susan Butters, Sister Kathleen McClelland, Sister Judith Niemet and Sister Virginia Peacock.
80-Year Jubilarian
Sister Helen Weinfurter entered the Mercy Community in Des Plaines, Ill. She first taught in elementary schools and later joined the faculty at Saint Xavier, teaching American literature from 1959 to 1989.
75-Year Jubilarians
Sister Mary (Mateo) Fearon, a native of Chicago, was a teacher, religious educator and author of religious textbooks for classroom instruction (K-3). A graduate of Saint Xavier University, she taught at St. Joachim, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Stephen Proto Martyr, St. Gabriel, St. Malachy, Little Flower, St. James and Christ the King. As a religious educator, she served at the Archdiocesan Office for Religious Education, Our Lady of Loretto, Queen of Martyrs, St. Bernadine, St. Domitilla and St. Gerald. Her ministry is the ministry of prayer at Chicago’s Mercy Circle. She remains interested in religious education materials (K-3).
Sister Renee Humble served primarily in health care. She spent many years teaching psychiatric and mental health nursing at the College of Nursing at Saint Xavier College (now University), at Mercyville school of psychiatric nursing in Aurora and at the University of Illinois, College of Nursing in Chicago. She administered a large psychiatric hospital, Mercyville, in Aurora, Ill. and Mercy Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Homewood, Ill. At Mercy Hospital in Chicago, she planned and administered a psychiatric day hospital (1986-89). In 1990, she retired from health care and transferred her knowledge and skills to care for the homeless at a homeless shelter in Aurora.
Learn more about the West Midwest 2018 Jubilarians.