Sister Janela Mack She's Almost An Institution
She may not move as fast as she used to, but Sister Janela Mack
hasn't lost her touch.
Ask students at Columbus High School, or patients at St. Francis
Hospital. For them, Sister Janela is something of an institution.
Since Columbus was built, and since shortly after the new hospital was
erected, she's been as much a part of their architecture as masonry and light.
By day, she's a science resource teacher at Columbus. Every other
evening, she, along with her friend, Sister Marcelle Hanrahan, visits
the sick and troubled at St. Francis.
Hospital visits often turn up current and former Columbus students.
For current students, Sister Janela provides help in catching up with
school work. For the old familiar faces, there might be a bit of
reminiscing about the bygone days at Columbus or the even earlier days
at Our Lady of Victory Academy.
Her evening visits to St. Francis cross the lines of religion as well as time.
Patients of all ages, races, and creeds have shared a few moments with
the familiar figure, now a little stooped, with the ready smile.
"Sometimes they'll open up and tell you about their families,"
she says. "Sometimes about their students in school, and sometimes
they'll talk about their illnesses."
By now she's probably heard it all, and she plans to hear a lot more.
Sister Janela, who has two master's degrees, is modest about her age,
but she hints that she celebrated her Golden Jubilee as a sister in September.
(by Pat O'Conner, Staff Writer, Waterloo Courier, Oct. 23, 1975) |