Sr. Mary Ellen Lewis, a Franciscan Sister of Mary for 68 years, died Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, MO. She was 89.
Mary Ellen Lewis was born December 10, 1934, in Clayton, Missouri, to Leslie T. and Irene C. (Nobel) Lewis. She earned her diploma in Nursing through St. Louis City Hospital School of Nursing, becoming an RN in 1955. She entered the Sisters of St. Mary on August 10, 1955; she received the name Sr. Mary Aquinas, and she professed final vows on February 11, 1963. She completed her BSN through Saint Louis University (1962); she earned a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction through the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1969) and a master’s in Theology through Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis (1990).
She was a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Louis (1955–1962). She taught pharmacology and medical nursing at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Kansas City, Missouri (1962), then returned to St. Mary’s in St. Louis as head nurse of the Nursery (1962–1963) and Medical Nursing supervisor (1963–1966). While a graduate student at Saint Louis University, she was a nurse at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center (1966–1967). She served as assistant executive director for St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin (1967–1975), then for two and a half years as executive director for St. Mary’s Hospital, Jefferson City.
In 1977 she was elected Treasurer General and Councilor for the Sisters of St. Mary. From 1985 to 1991 she was General Superior; under her leadership, the SSM Health Care system was established (1986), and the reunification of the Sisters of St. Mary and the Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary was accomplished (1987). She served as FSM novice director (1991–1992).
She became a patient representative at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. After research on forgiveness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she served in Pastoral Care there from 1995 to 2002, as director of Pastoral Care (1996–2000) and chaplain (2000–2009). In 1996 she became a founding member of the International Forgiveness Institute; the institute trains teachers to provide age-appropriate forgiveness programs worldwide; two of those programs operate in Northern Ireland and Liberia.
From 2002 to 2007 she was assistant director of the International Peace Council in Madison. In this capacity she attended conclaves in Northern Ireland, Thailand, and New York City; fellow attendees included the Dalai Lama of Tibet, an Irish woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize, and a Saudi Arabian woman peace advocate. She communicated by phone and e-mail with African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, himself an exemplar of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Sr. Mary Ellen enjoyed classical and folk music, as well as fabric art. She loved exploring history and poetry. She enjoyed how her service in Pastoral Care integrated aspects of all her previous ministries —nursing, leadership, and her studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for her on May 28, 2024, at 1:30 pm at the Marion Chapel at The Sarah Community, with her wake beginning at 12:45 pm.