HISTORY OF THE ST. ELIZABETH MISSION SOCIETY
Rev. Mother Jean Marie Greeley, OSF
Foundress
St. Elizabeth Mission Society was founded in 1947 as a new form of mission activity for the thousands of supporters who would aid the Sisters in the upcoming years. It remains the same today.
The Foundress, Rev. Mother Jean Marie Greeley, sought to bring the mission work of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany closer to the American people and provide permanent financial support for the ministries of the Sisters at home and abroad in Jamaica, Bolivia and Brazil.
Sr. Teresa Anne Fitzgerald, OSF
1948 – 1972
Sr. Teresa Anne Fitzgerald, OSF was the first director of the Mission Society and work began in a spare room at St. Clare Convent in Buffalo, NY. Under her guidance from 1948-1972, the Mission Society grew and developed. A small printing press and other machines were acquired and the process of printing Enrollment Cards began. These cards made it possible to enroll members into the Society and provided support to the mission through the benefactors. In the early days, barrels and trunks were packed with clothing, bedding, over-the-counter medicines, and kitchen utensils, like measuring cups, that were hard to obtain in the Mission areas. The Sisters traveled to our Missions on freighters and took the supplies along. Each freighter only transported 10 passengers. The first Foreign Mission was established in 1878 in Jamaica, 1946 in Brazil, and 1965 in Bolivia.
St. Elizabeth Motherhouse and Academy
1861 – 1973
In 1952, St. Elizabeth Mission Society was moved to the old Motherhouse on the hill in Allegany, NY. At this time, the Society was able to purchase another larger printing press to support the original one and the Sisters and staff proceeded to publish the first issue of the Zeal magazine in the spring of 1952.
Zeal originated as a small magazine published bi-monthly telling of the experiences of the Sisters at home and abroad bringing the missions closer to our members and benefactors. Initially a subscription magazine, its status changed to an advertising magazine in 1985. It is still published today, but on an annual basis with stories of impact from the Sisters ministries. There was not a machine or camera that Sr. Teresa Anne didn’t learn to operate herself in order to further her cause. She and her staff took, developed, and printed all the photos with a fully-functioning dark room on-site.
Sr. Karen Burns, OSF
1972 – 1984
Upon Sr. Teresa Anne’s death in 1972, Sr. Karen Burns, OSF, a zealous missionary, who had just returned from her mission in Bolivia, was appointed our 2nd director. She was a dynamic speaker and spoke alternately in parish churches and schools along the East Coast. Her leadership strengthened the organization. It was at this time that the Mission Society was moved to the present Motherhouse in Allegany, NY and operations changed somewhat with the sale of the presses and utilization of contractors for printing. As another way to support the mission during this time (1979) the Mission Society began supporting the American Sisters stationed abroad by paying for their Healthcare Insurance as well as some other health coverage needs. Medical supplies were sent to Brazil to help Sr. Elizabeth Sweeney in her care for the lepers. Often other supplies, like medical charts, were taken down to the mission by Sisters who had visited the Motherhouse. As you can imagine these are just some of the ways in which the Mission Society supported the Sisters at home and abroad.
Sr. Eva Marie DiCamillo, OSF
1984 – 1986
In 1984, Sr. Karen Burns, OSF accepted a position as Director of Development for the Allegany Health System in Florida. At this time, Sr. Eva DiCamillo accepted the responsibility as Mission Director. She had served on the Board of the Congregation’s Newsletter and her talents as a photographer and writer were put to good use.
Sr. Marie Dolores Gionta, OSF
1986 – 2006
When Sr. Eva was assigned to Florida in 1986, Sr. Marie Dolores Gionta, OSF returned to the Mission Society as the new Director. Previously, she had worked with Sr. Teresa Anne as Assistant Director and now brought all her love and energy to this position.
During her directorship, she brought St. Elizabeth Mission Society into the 21st Century. Remaining faithful to the original goal to provide permanent financial support to the ministers of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany she stepped forward by bringing modern technology into our daily operations, email and visits brought our missions closer. She went on field trips to far-away missions, visited convents, hospitals, and schools to see where our financial support (monthly and as grants) was helping our Franciscan Mission. She also noted which direction our help should take in the future. Her talent in financial management enabled the Mission Society to attain its noteworthy goals.
Sr. Jeanette Michaud, OSF
2006 – 2009
After Sr. Marie Dolores’ death in December 2006, Sr. Jeannette Michaud, OSF returned to the States from her missionary work in Bolivia and was appointed Director of St. Elizabeth Mission Society, Sr. Jeannette had such deep love for the poor that she made every effort to provide for them financially through her heartfelt appeals to benefactors on their behalf. Sr. Jeannette died unexpectedly on January 9, 2009.
Sr. Chris Doherty, OSF
2009 – 2014
St. Elizabeth Mission Society then welcomed Sr. M. Chris Doherty, OSF as the director. She had previously served as the Associate Director of the Mission Society under Sr. Karen Burns from 1981-83. At that time, she was using her full religious name of Sr. M. Christopher John and designing the artistic layout and writing for the ZEAL magazine. It was upon her return as Director in 2009 that “color” was added to communications. As the director, Sr. Chris focused on personal connection to donors as well as going back to designing our own enrollment cards bringing the mission of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany closer to them. Visiting the missions to see firsthand where help was needed was just one, among many, of her responsibilities. She retired from the position in the fall of 2014.
Laura Whitford, President 2014-present
Our present director, Laura Whitford, is the first president of the Mission Society who is not a Franciscan Sister. She came to the Mission Society in the fall of 2014, after 14 years as a Development Director for another non-profit. She brought extensive knowledge of fundraising, including donor relations and using technology to manage donor data bases, to the position. She continues to communicate the good works of the Sisters in the mission fields and was able to travel on pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy with the Congregational Leadership team as well as visit our schools and farms in Jamaica. She also traveled to our convents and hospitals in Florida and our homeless shelter in NYC. All of these trips included many conversations with our Sisters who minister in the poorest of these areas and helped her better understand the great and necessary work they do and how to best fund the need. Laura is passionate about the ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and remains faithful to the goals they set forth in 1859.
For more information on the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, click HERE.
