Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SMITH, Maureen (Sister)
SMITH, Maureen (Sister) (Sumner, IA, Nov. 27, 1935--Dubuque, IA, Aug. 15, 2021). Of six daughters born to the Smith family, Maureen was the fifth to join a religious order. One of eighteen children, she remembered the family kneeling together to recite the rosary from October to May. The rest of the year there was too much work to do on the farm. She attended [[immaculate conception academy in Dubuque. She entered the convent of the SISTERS OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS OF THE HOLY FAMILY (OSF) in 1954 at the age of 16. (1) The sisters were trained three years in a daily routine of chores, study, and service. She made her profession of vows in 1960 and completed her bachelor's degree in elementary education. She taught in Dubuque, Manchester and Waterloo.
In the late 1960s the Order suggested that she minister to migrant farmworkers. She attended Briar Cliff College to learn Spanish and then began her work in Michigan; Iowa; Minnesota; Washington, D.C.; and Florida. She educated children, looked for volunteers, wrote grants and sought donations as part of the Migrant Project.
Sister Smith returned to Dubuque in 2010 and lived at MOUNT ST. FRANCIS CONVENT. (2)
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Source:
1. Nevans-Pederson, Mary, "Holy Families," Telegraph Herald, June 5, 2011, p. 37
1. Goldstein, Bennet, "Sister Spent Life Ministering to Migrant Laborers," Telegraph Herald, September 26, 2021, p. 9