Meet the Leadership Team of the St. Louis Province
Left to right: Sr. Julie Cutter, Sr. Ellen Kron, Sr. Mary Walz, Sr. Rose Ann Aguilar, Sr. Joanne Vasa
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We are an international community of women dedicated to serving persons who are poor. Like other women in religious communities, Daughters of Charity take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. But unlike other groups we do not make perpetual vows. Every year, on the Feast of the Annunciation, we choose to renew our commitment to God and our vow of service to persons who are poor.
The Superioress General of the Daughters of Charity is Sister Evelyne Franc. She is assisted by a General Council of other Daughters of Charity who represent the major languages and nationalities which make up the Company.
Each Province has a leadership team as well. The head of the leadership team for the St. Louis Province, known as the Visitatrix, is Sr. Mary Walz. She is entrusted with the mission to promote the spiritual and apostolic vitality of the Province. She is assisted by a Council as well as by a Secretary and Treasurer. Each Province also has a Provincial Director, a Vincentian priest who collaborates with the group.
I was born in Carroll, Iowa, second oldest of seven children. My heart was drawn to the Daughters because of their commitment to the service of the poor. I responded to this great adventure after my freshman year of college. I have both a BA in Social Work and an MSW and have had the joy of spending the majority of my community life in direct service to persons living in poverty. A goodly part of my ministry has brought me in contact with the Hispanic community which I dearly love. I spent fourteen years in rural Arkansas where the African American community taught me how to work with communities and recognize their gifts and capacities. By nature I am an easy going, go-with-the-flow, relaxed sort of person. I enjoy one on one opportunities to get to know people. I absolutely love my life and feel so blessed to be a Daughter.
I am a third generation Texan born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. I have three brothers and one sister and my family includes four nieces and five nephews. I attended public school through high school. My mom was a great influence in my life. She was a Lady of Charity and accompanied one of the Daughters from our parish on her visits to the needy in our area. Following initial formation and getting my Bachelor's degree in Social Work, I was sent to Cotulla, Texas as a social worker. I obtained my MSW in 1984. Following this: Social Worker and Administrator Marillac Social Center, Dallas, Texas 1984-2001; Director Social Services, Cathedral of Dallas 2002-2007. In 2007 I began my present ministry in Provincial Leadership. In my free time I enjoy reading and needlepoint.
I grew up in Kansas City, Philadelphia and Dallas. I met the Daughters of Charity in Vincentian priests at Holy Trinity Parish and School in Dallas, Texas. I was enamored of the charism of service of those living in poverty and so I entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis. I studied education, math and Scripture. My ministries have included teaching, parish leadership development, community organizing and accompaniment of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico and Guatemala. I am passionate about education and advocacy for social justice, development of lay leadership in the Church and promotion of the Gospel in the spirit of Saints Vincent and Louise. For the past two years, I have served on the Provincial Council.
I have been involved in the social ministry and health ministry fields throughout my community life. Primarily, I served on the administrative team in a childrens' treatment facility as well as on various Ascension Health ministry boards. Immediately prior to serving on our Provincial Council, I was at our mission in Haiti.
I grew up on a dairy farm in Nebraska, the third of seven children. My parents sent all of us to Catholic grade and high school and working together on the family farm was a real experience of community. After receiving a degree in special education at the local community college, I met the Daughters of Charity through my brother, who was taught by the Vincentians at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver. I entered the community in 1975, made vows in Kansas City in 1980, continued teaching in Catholic schools and later began working in parish religious education. From 1992-1998 I served as a Seminary Directress at the interprovincial seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I returned to parish ministry in St. Louis until 2003 and then served in the Mission Department at Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, Texas. Currently I am the Formation Councillor for the St. Louis Province. I enjoy doing Vincentian retreats and spiritual direction, and to relax, I take time for biking, birdwatching and reading.
