Religious celebrate milestone anniversaries

By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer

SAMUELS, Ky., — Sister of Charity of Nazareth Evelyn Hurley thanks God every day for her 85 years of ministry as a woman religious.

“God has been so exceedingly good to me. I’m so grateful for my vocation and for everything God has given to me. I couldn’t be happier,” she said.

Sister Hurley, 103, was one of 62 men and women religious recognized at the World Day of Consecrated Life Mass held Feb. 3 at St. Gregory Church in Samuels, Ky. Thirteen jubilarians attended the celebration.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz celebrated the Mass for men and women marking jubilees of 25 to 85 years during a regular Sunday morning Mass with St. Gregory parishioners.

He told the women and men religious in attendance they were called by the Lord to serve in very specific ways.

“Those of you who have special vocations, you say yes everyday,” he said. “All of us are witnesses to it and the church exalts today in your recommitment.”

Sister Hurley’s 85-year commitment to religious life is rooted in her grade school in South Boston, where the Sisters of Charity educated her and left an impression.

“They were role models for us,” said Sister Hurley during an interview before the Feb. 3 liturgy. “When we were young, they would ask how many of us were going to be Sisters and every hand would go up.”

Sister Hurley joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth when she was 17 years old. The following year, in 1933, she received the habit.

Following her role models’ examples, she served as a teacher for 60 years, beginning as a first- and second-grade teacher at LaSalette Academy in Covington, Ky., where she taught from 1935 to 1939.

She then taught at St. Agnes School in Louisville from 1939 to 1947. From here, she ministered as a teacher in Clarksdale, Miss., until 1950.

In 1950, she returned to South Boston and began teaching at Nazareth School (later St. Brigid School and now called South Boston Catholic Academy), the same school she attended. She taught there for 45 years.

“I enjoyed every single minute in the classroom. I had the primary grades and I absolutely loved it,” she said in her Boston accent.

In 1995, Sister Hurley retired from teaching at age 80 but maintained an active ministry of visiting the sick and attending wakes and funerals of the families she had come to know through the years.

In 2014, at age 99, she retired to the SCN Motherhouse in  Nazareth, Ky.  There, she keeps a busy schedule. She enjoys crocheting, traveling and spends a great deal of time maintaining correspondence with former students and friends and family, she said.

“I am very, very happy here (at Nazareth). I am very well taken care of,” she said.

Sister Hurley turns 104 on March 7 and plans to travel to Boston for a visit with family and friends in April.

All men and women religious in the archdiocese were invited to attend the Feb. 3 World Day for Consecrated Life Mass.

Following is a list of jubilarians who responded to the invitation sent by the Archdiocese of Louisville.

85 years

Sister Evelyn Hurley, SCN

80 years

Sister Genevieve Cavanaugh, SL

75 years

Sister Mary Patricia Brennan, SCN

Sister Mary Katherine Hammett, SL

Sister Antoinette Kostelnik, SCN

Sister Kathleen Tighe, SL

Sister Maurice Wayda, SCN

Sister Mary Wedding, SCN

70 years

Sister Irene Marie du Sacre Couer, LSP

Sister Jamesetta DeFlice, OSU

Sister Kay DeMarea, SL

Sister Paschal Maria Fernicola, SCN

Sister Julienne Guy, OSU

Sister Rose Anthony Heitzman, OP

Sister Rita Maureen Hurtt, SL

Sister Mary Kenneth Hrbal, SCN

Sister Mary Donata Kokot, OSU

Sister Eileen Mary Meyer, SCN

Sister Mary Lee Murphy, SL

Sister Monica Myers, OP

Sister Virginia Mary Sammett, OP

Sister Jane Stuckenborg, OSU

60 years

Sister Brigid Bonner, SP

Sister Janice Campbell, SCN

Sister Gail Collins, SCN

Father Ronald Corl, CP

Sister Jeanne Dueber, SL

Sister Anne Elizabeth Elampalathottyil, SCN

Sister Catherine Franze, OSU

Sister Barbara Gilmetti, SCN

Sister Teresa Gurule, OP

Sister Patricia Ann Healey, SCN

Sister Jeanine Jaster, SCN

Sister Bridget Kappalumakal, SCN

Sister Carole Kaucic, SCN

Sister Eileen Kersgieter, SL

Sister Theresa Knable, SCN

Sister Barbara Ann Lengvarsky, SCN

Sister Genevieve de Marie, LSP

Sister John Loretto Mueller, SCN

Father Eric Meyer, CP

Sister Mary Michelle Naber, SCN

Sister Mary Swain, SL

Sister Barbara Sullivan, OP

Sister Elizabeth Emmanuel Vattakunnel, SCN

Sister Teresa Velloothara, SCN

Sister Mary Terence (Terry) Wasinger, OP

Sister Lorna Weiler, OSU

Sister Joan Wilson, SCN

Sister Kitty Wilson, SCN

50 years

Sister Rita Davis, SCN

Sister Stella Kaiparampatt, SCN

Sister Judy Morris, OP

Sister Bridget Vadakeattam, SCN

Sister Sunita Vayalipara, SCN

Sister Vandana Velleringatt, SCN

25 years

Sister Prisca Bilung, SCN

Sister Beatrice Ann Keller, SCN

Sister Josephine Kisku, SCN

Sister Salomi Linda, SCN

Brother Aaron Schulte, OCSO

Sister Lilly Joseph Vellanayil, SCN