June 18, 2010
Three Ferdinand Benedictines to celebrate Golden Jubilees
Three Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their monastic profession on Saturday, July 3, at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. Benedictine Father Julian Peters will preside at the 1 p.m. jubilee Mass in the monastery church. Benedictine Sister Joella Kidwell will deliver the address at the ceremony. A reception for family and friends will follow in St. Gertrude Hall in the monastery.
The jubilarians, Sisters Shirley Ann Schultheis, Mary Francis Williams, and Mary Lee Hillenbrand, made their first profession of monastic vows in 1960 and their final profession in 1965.
Sister Shirley Ann, a native of Evansville, entered the monastery from Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Haubstadt, in 1958. She taught at schools in Fulda, Celestine, St. Henry, and Evansville (St. Benedict and Marian Day). She was supervisor at Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Services (SIRS) in Ferdinand, supervisor of Adult Day Activity (ADA) program at SIRS in Boonville, and director of social services at the monastery. Currently, she works in the monastery gift shop.
Sister Mary Francis, a native of Vincennes, entered the monastery from St. Thomas Church in 1958. She taught at schools in Celestine, St. Anthony, the Academy in Ferdinand, Schnellville, and at Mater Dei High School in Evansville, where she has served since 1967. She received the Evansville Diocesan Teacher of the Year Award in 1993 and the Vanderburgh County Outstanding Educator of the Year Award in the high school division in 2009.
Sister Mary Lee, a native of Evansville, entered the monastery from St. Benedict Church in 1958. She worked as a radiology technologist and as a physical therapist at Stork Memorial Hospital, Huntingburg. She was an occupational therapist at the Ferdinand monastery and at Visiting Nurse Association in Spencer County. She served in Church ministry at Apache Junction, Arizona, and at Troy, Indiana. She was a chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital, Evansville, and an early childhood teacher at C.K. Newsome Community Center and Sacred Heart Church, Evansville. Currently she does support services and health care ministry at the monastery