Age 83
Sister Teresa loved her calling to religious life, community and the ministries of the Sisters of Mercy and felt the ‘fire’ for good works and dedication to God.
She started to consider religious life as a second grader at St. Catherine School in DuBois, Pennsylvania. She entered the Sisters of Mercy at the age of 20 in Erie, Pennsylvania. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mercyhurst College (now University) in Erie, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in elementary education from Kutztown University, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. She also served as the director of religious education for 18 years at St. Luke School in Erie, Pennsylvania.
After teaching elementary education in the Erie Diocese for 26 years, she took a sabbatical and decided to become a spiritual director receiving a master’s degree from Creighton University in
Omaha, Nebraska, in Christian spirituality with certification in spiritual direction and directed retreats. For 17 years, she ministered as a spiritual director, and a director of campus ministry at Mercyhurst Preparatory School, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Over the years, she directed religious education and served as librarian/secretary and coordinator of student liturgies at Mercyhurst. After 60 years of dedication to the youth of the diocese, she returned to those yesteryear days spent in personal prayer.