SSM St. Mary's Health Center
Eight Decades as Great Neighbors: FSM and SSM St. Mary's
On June 15, 2010, the Franciscan Sisters of Mary celebrated their 8-decade friendship with their “across-the-yard” neighbors, SSM St. Mary's Health Center. From 2 to 4 p.m. the sisters and SSM St. Mary's employees enjoyed scrumptious desserts, music, impromptu dancing, laughter, and sharing stories and memories in the hospital cafeteria.
Many FSM served as administrators, nurses, dietitians, researchers, medical technologists, pastoral care providers and in other capacities at St. Mary's, building friendships and associations that have held fast through the years.
The celebration was planned for the green space between the convent and the hospital, but the torrential storms that swept through dictated otherwise. The rain certainly didn't dampen the spirits or the good times of those who gathered to enjoy good friends, good food, and good times.
SSM St. Mary's President Bill Jennings had a special surprise gift for the sisters: small crosses fashioned from the beautiful terrazzo floor in the atrium of beloved Mother Concordia Hall, which was razed this spring.
The sisters founded the hospital in 1924 and built the convent on the grounds just south of it, moving into the motherhouse in 1929.
