Ramona Meurer
Pioneer for Peace
In late July 2008, Sr. Ramona Meurer was scheduled to fly to Denver to receive the 2008 Peacemaker Award at the Franciscan Federation meetings.
But then Hurricane Dolly blasted into her region of southeastern Texas. Floods and damaging winds left thousands without power, shelter—or transportation out of the area.
Sr. Ramona rode out the storm with her neighbors in Harlingen, then rolled up her sleeves and plunged into the Red Cross rescue work that is both her gift and her love.
“During the hurricane I was with them,” Sr. Ramona said. “I worked with them. I lived with them in the shelters and in others’ homes. I was without power too.”
Peacemaker and Pioneer
The Peacemaker Banquet at the Franciscan Federation meetings honors someone “whose life and actions model for others a person who has moved out of their comfort level toward a deeper sense of Franciscan Evangelical Life and inspires others to do the same.”
For decades Sr. Ramona has done just that. “She has a gift—she’s not afraid to go anyplace, to do anything,” said her sister, Jeanne Meurer, FSM. “She has boundless energy.”
In 1971 she headed to the impoverished Rio Grande Valley of southeastern Texas, with Srs. Mary Eloise Haberstock and Mary Unterreiner, to serve at Su Clinica Familiar. She did home visits with clinic patients and served as chief nutritionist for the clinics in Harlingen and Raymondville. She mentored two young women from southern Texas who themselves became registered dietitians qualified to take her place. And for five years she served as the first full-time registered dietitian at the new Brownsville Hospital.
She spent nearly a decade in Kenya, founding a mission and serving as a community outreach organizer, nutritionist, and health teacher. She helped build homes and schools.
“I’ve always worked with the poor,” Sr. Ramona said. “I’m energized by seeing how they’re energized.”
Back in Texas once more, she serves as a volunteer with both the national Red Cross and the local Red Cross. She goes wherever she’s needed, picking up at a moment’s notice when disasters strike. She finds shelter, food, and bedding for others. She helps them fill out the forms. “She always goes the extra mile,” Sr. Jeanne said.
During the 9/11 tragedy, she served for three weeks at ground zero, then was asked to serve another five weeks. She worked mostly with the families of the firefighters.
She was there to help after Katrina. She’s worked with the victims of wildfires in the Northwest and California. She served people in the floods in northwestern Texas and in Iowa.
“Out of nothing she can make something for people,” Sr. Jeanne said. “She always helps the poorest of the poor. She helps get houses rehabbed and built, helps immigrants with resettlement.”
Marching to a Different Drummer
Missing the awards banquet in Denver didn’t seem to cause Sr. Ramona much concern. She finally received her Peacemaker Award on October 5 at the fall gathering of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary at St. Mary of the Angels in St. Louis.
”I probably march to a different drummer,” she said. “But you have to do what brings you peace.”
Sr. Ramona’s work with the poor and marginalized shows a deep respect for them as her sisters and brothers. “It’s a balance, like walking on a trampoline,” she said. “You want to be compassionate—you’re with them all the way. But you don’t give them things—they don’t need that. You give them teaching tools.
“Everyone needs that continued movement forward.”
Her vision for peace stands firmly on her respect for others, on honoring the individuality and the value of every human person, no matter how poor and insignificant he or she might seem.
“There will never be peace until everyone in the world can stand tall amongst their own people, stand as an individual and bring the peace they have within to one another,” she said.
“Francis and Clare did that—they helped make the people around them stand tall in their spirituality, in their life, and in their death.”