Age 83
Sister Janet lived the message of the prophet Micah: “Act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.”
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her Catholic faith and passion for justice were nurtured in her home and neighborhood and through her education at St. Barnabas Elementary School and West Philadelphia Catholic High School, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After high school graduation, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in Merion, Pennsylvania, at the age of 18.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Gwynedd Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in history from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. She taught for 12 years in elementary and secondary schools in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Raleigh, North Carolina and Allentown, Pennsylvania dioceses.
Janet accepted an invitation from the Sisters of Mercy leadership to consider a healthcare internship. She earned a master’s degree in business administration from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Janet’s innate intelligence, openness to challenges, and a quest for equality for all people paved the way for her next forty years in healthcare ministry.
Holding various positions, including administrator, chief executive officer, and vice-president in hospitals and health systems, Janet significantly impacted the evolving nature of healthcare during this time. She served as the chief executive officer at St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, the vice president of Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Associates in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and the vice-president of mission and ministry at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania. Janet devoted her service in mercy to facilitating and advocating for the right to health care for all.