News and Events: Sister Ann

Everyone is familiar with "throwback Thursday", a popular post on Facebook.  Instead of remembering the history of the community and our sisters on a throwback Thursday, I thought occasionally I would post some remembrances on Monday.  I'll have to work on a catchy phrase like Monday Memories or something. While I try to come up with a catchy title, I'll  introduce you (or re-introduce you) to Sister Ann.

Sister Ann Cornelius Curran was Mother Ellen's blood sister.  Sister Ann entered the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1939.  When Sister Ann was a novice her mother died unexpectedly.   She offered to leave the convent to help take of her family.  Her father insisted that she return to the convent. After making vows, Sister Ann was trained to be a nurse and worked in the various hospitals owned by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. In 1947, the Sister of Charity of Nazareth  announced that they would open a hospital in India at the invitation of of the Jesuits.  Both Sister Ann and Mother Ellen volunteered for the India mission.  Sister Ann was selected to be part of the pioneering group of sisters.  She and five other sisters embarked for the new mission, fully expecting not to being able to return to the United States.

She worked in India until her return to the United States in 1973, when she joined Mother Ellen and 17 other sisters in forming the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker.  In 1974, the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker took over the operation of Taylor Manor Nursing Home in Versailles, Ky.  Sister Ann was assigned to be the Director of Nursing for Taylor Manor, a position she held until 1990 when she retired.

Sister Ann suffered from severe spinal scoliosis, a result from an accident while in India. She rarely spoke of the pain she was in.   In her retirement she assisted in the many small details in the running of the convent until her health prevented her from helping.  She passes away March 31, 2002.