Sister Karen Ramey

I was born on the northwest side of Chicago in November 1943 to Irene and Melvin Ramey. The Logan Square neighborhood was home to many Polish immigrants and growing up, I learned many Polish traditions and cultural ways from my mother and grandma. My grandma, who was a first-generation Pole, took care of our gardens and continued traditions from her former home in Warsaw such as making sausages, cooking meats, and making noodles and sauerkraut.

We prayed novenas and visited churches and cemeteries every Sunday, carrying on her Polish traditions. These cultural experiences from the “old country” helped me walk more comfortably when I first lived with our Franciscan sisters in semi-tropical Chajul, Guatemala in 1987. I loved that I could adapt.

My willingness to try anything links back to my childhood and my dad. My dad would take us out to the countryside to enjoy a picnic, ride horses, and fish in Lake Michigan and other northern lakes. There we would enjoy the quietness of the water and outdoors to relax. As a child, I learned to play piano, dance ballet, knit, and care for animals. I learned to appreciate diverse cultural cooking and was always willing to try something new.

I believe my first thoughts about vocations started back in grade school, where the parish priest would come and talk to the upper grades about vocations in life. From sixth grade on, I wanted to dedicate my life to the Church as a vowed lay woman or become a religious sister. I was taught by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in grade school.

My mom didn’t like the idea of me going away to enter the convent after grade school, but she worked hard to get me into a Catholic high school, encouraging me to attend Alvernia, as that was the group I really wanted to join. My dad worked two jobs to send me to Alvernia High School to help me achieve my dream of graduating from high school and finishing college by age 21. To help with the cost of college, I worked in a pharmaceutical firm between classes, commuting from home to school to work. After my graduation from college, I entered the School Sisters of St. Francis on August 15, 1965.

When I entered the community, I was fluent in the Spanish language and had extensive knowledge of Latin America and Peninsular literature. In the early years of my vowed life, I received certifications for high school and primary education and taught 15 years at St. Benedict High School in Chicago, followed by two years at Pius XI High School in Milwaukee. I loved teaching and coordinating activities with the students.

Our sisters in the nursing field needed support to enable them to go on retreat, vacation, or continue their own education, so I studied to become a nurse. I enrolled in the intensive LPN program offered at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Sister Anna Marie Noth then invited me to a remote mission to work with our sisters in Guatemala. Before joining them, I studied an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Level 1 course to prepare for rural care and survival techniques.

I spent the next 23 years in Guatemala. My time in Latin America surprised me, especially being a Chicago city girl, as I was able to “let go,” and be a simpler version of myself. I did what was needed in mission life as a nurse, in pastoral work, teaching English to the teachers, working with the farmers, and burying the dead. I learned from our ULAF sisters how prayerful life sustains us amid the stresses and unknown surprises from each day, as there was violence and poverty all around us. I am grateful for my years with them.

The life experiences that brought me the most meaning and reward were teaching in the United States and later my work in Guatemala. I helped mothers give birth at home, blending Mayan natural ways with Western remedies; I taught husbands how to help their wives live through the birthing process; and, at times, I dealt with the pain that comes with the death of the mother and/or her child during childbirth. My biggest challenge was allowing others to decide things in their time, respecting their beliefs while quietly carrying the emotional weight myself. These experiences were intense at times, but extremely rewarding.

I treasure the time I have now working part time as a nurse on a health advocate team in Milwaukee. My work as health advocate is where I can help the sisters in little ways, providing home care, attending medical appointments, or simply with my presence. I love being on this team. It gives me courage to remain hopeful and happy as I live out each day and week.

Sister Karen, we congratulate you on 60 years of religious ministry as you touched the lives of youth and adults.