May 28, 2010
Benedictine sisters to observe silver jubilees
Benedictine Sisters Louise Laroche and Susan Mary Hooks of Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their profession of monastic vows on June 5 at the monastery church.
Benedictine Father Eugene Hensell will preside at the 1 p.m. jubilee Mass, and Benedictine Sister Rose Mary Rexing will give the reflection. A reception for family and friends will follow the ceremony.
Sister Louise, a native of Berlin, New Hampshire, entered the Benedictine monastery in Martin, Kentucky, in 1983. She made her first profession of vows in 1985. She moved to the monastery in Ferdinand in 1986, where she made her final profession in 1993.
Sister Louise holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., a master’s degree in elementary education from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and a master’s degree in theological studies from St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Mein-rad.
She taught at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic School in Paintsville, Kentucky, and at the Mountain Christian Academy in Martin, Kentucky, where she was also director of the elementary school. Since 1987, she has been a teacher at Holy Family School in Jasper. The past year, she took a leave of absence from teaching to care for her father in Berlin.
Sister Susan Mary, a native of Slovak, Ark., entered the monastery in 1984. She made her first profession of vows in 1985 and her final profession in 1993. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a major in accounting, from Mem-phis State University in Mem-phis.
Since 2001, she has been serving as assistant vice-rector for administration/comptroller at Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy. Prior to that, she was business manager at St. Helen Parish, Louisville. She also worked in the Business Office at Marian Heights Academy, Ferdinand, and as patient accounts manager at St. Joseph Hospital, Huntingburg.
Founded in 1867 by four sisters from St. Walburg Monastery in Covington, Kentucky, the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand serve in schools, parishes, church institutions, retreat centers, health care facilities, and social service agencies in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Italy, and Peru. With 168 members, the Ferdinand Benedictines are one of the largest Benedictine communities in the United States.