Sister Mary Maurita Sengelaub, RSM

I got this book on loan from a neighbor, who is a cousin of the author. Sister Mary Maurita was born Katherine Marie Sengelaub in 1918 on a farm just outside of Reed City, Michigan. After high school she completed nurse's training at St Mary's School of Nursing in Grand Rapids, then worked and taught in hospitals there and in Bay City. During WWII she also spent time in Washington, DC, furthering her education at Catholic University. She briefly considered joining the military during the war, but a hospital administrator talked her out of it, convincing her she would do more good by training more nurses who would fill those wartime needs. In 1945, Ms. Katherine Marie Sengelaub made the decision to join the religious order of the Sisters of Mercy and entered a convent in Detroit for the religious training that would result in her new identity, Sister Mary Maurita.

The rest of Sengelaub's story reads very much like a business C.V. or professional resume, as she takes us through her continued training, graduate school work, and various jobs in nursing and then supervisory and administrative positions within the order. And it is an extremely impressive job record, as her work was not confined to Michigan. Her nursing training and hospital background and experience soon resulted in her traveling to Catholic hospitals and conferences all over the United States, as well as to South America and, eventually, Australia. Her expertise in hospital organization and administration made her an international figure in the establishment and consolidation of hospitals in numerous countries and she was much in demand as a speaker, trouble shooter and consultant from the 1950s forward. Throughout this time she was able to make and maintain important contacts and also kept close family ties. She battled health problems too - cancer and heart disease - but continued to work steadily, sharing her considerable knowledge and expertise for more than fifty years. Now 97, Sengelaub is retired in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Sengelaub's book is a quick read. I was a little disappointed that there was not more personal information, but finally decided that her life was simply consumed by work. I do not doubt that prayer and her faith played a large part in her many successes, but that does not really come through strongly here, other than in periodic mentions of praying about taking on new jobs and responsibilities.

MY LIFE'S JOURNEY IN FAITH will be of interest primarily to her friends and family, but it also represents a kind of personal history of the Sisters of Mercy and their role in the health care and hospital industry of this country and abroad. Her role in all of it is an impressive one. And all this by a farm girl from Reed City. Her book, privately published by the Sisters of Mercy, is recommended for special collections and libraries. Well done, Sister Maurita.… (més)