Serving God’s People…with the full measure of one’s life

Sister Ann Maureen Celebrates Her Golden Jubilee

Fall 2005

	Maureen at 3 years old with her dad Frank Murphy

- Corinne M. Mohrmann

Maureen Murphy attended Holy Family Day Home as a child, but didn’t like it much and wanted to stay home. She didn’t have that option because her mother worked, and drove a car—somewhat scandalous in those times—so off she went.

She returned in her high school years as a volunteer. It was then that she began to appreciate the Day Home for the work it did for children and families. This experience also allowed her to see the human side of the Sisters—real people who competed in jacks tournaments and played basketball with the children.    

Teacher, Nurse, Housewife, Nun?

For Sister Ann Maureen’s generation, women’s choices were generally pretty limited, and none of them were immediately compelling. Part of her fought the idea of the convent, but it was the other side of her that won out. And once she knew, there was never a question of which order she would choose.

	Sister Ann Maureen at Saint Vincent’s in the 1970s

Doing the Work Others Don’t Do

The Sisters of the Holy Family are known as the “gleaners,” those who go into the fields after they have been harvested, and take what’s left. They were founded to seek out with compassion the poor and needy, especially families.

The Sister of the Holy Family were the first in California to establish Day Homes to serve children of the working poor—striving to nurture children and help keep families together. Sister Ann Maureen has spent her entire adult life fulfilling this mission.

50 Years of Service as a Sister of the Holy Family

Sister Ann Maureen was sent on her first mission to Holy Family Day Home in San Francisco, where she spent the next 10 years teaching in almost every age group.

Over time she taught children for more than 12 years and served 20 years as Executive Director at two Day Homes—Saint Vincent’s Day Home and Holy Family Day Home. Her second mission was teaching kindergarten at Holy Child Day Home in Reno, Nevada. She taught kindergarten one more year at Saint Vincent’s Day Home and became the Director the following year for the next decade.

	With traveling companions in Nicaragua

In 1984 she served for four years as Vice President of the Sisters of the Holy Family Congregation. This term was followed by 13 more years of service at Holy Family Day Home in San Francisco. In 2001 Sister Ann Maureen returned to Oakland and has been very happy to be back at Saint Vincent’s as the friend-maker, fundraiser for the past four years. She currently serves as a Board Member of Saint Elizabeth’s Day Home in San Jose, and this year, celebrates her Golden Jubilee, 50 years of service as a Sister of the Holy Family.

A Passion for Social Justice

Sister Ann Maureen combines her commitment to social justice with her ministry to serve children and families. In 1976, she traveled with a group to El Salvador and Nicaragua, a trip she describes as an “eye opener.”

There were heavy restrictions on what they could bring with them—books or items related to liberation theology were forbidden. She and her fellow travelers visited the Embassy and Congress, visited prisons, and talked to people on the streets.

The experience recharged her humanitarian spirit, and she has remained a passionate activist for human rights issues ever since. She’s participated in peace marches, learned how to get arrested properly (and has done so successfully several times), and continues to be ardent when she becomes aware of personal injustices people are forced to endure.

	Newest family member Joel takes center stage at a recent celebration honoring Sister Ann Maureen’s Jubilee Year

We Can’t Do It Without Each Other

Never letting anything keep her down, Sister Ann Maureen is a 26-year survivor of cancer, recounting that “…I’m not supposed to be alive.”

Alive she is, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm as she forges ahead in her role as Saint Vincent’s Development Director, writing proposals, securing grants, and building new community partnerships. She says that she loves fund raising, even though “…most people look at you like you’re crazy.” She attributes much of her energy to the many people who have been so faithful to and generous with Saint Vincent’s, stating humbly that “...we can’t do it without each other.”