April 9, 1933, was Palm Sunday, a day commemorating Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Thousands of miles from Jerusalem, in Chilton, Wisconsin, I made my humble entry into the family of Jess and Hildegarde Mortimer. My eldest brother John had joined our family a year and four months earlier. After my birth, my brother Gene followed me and my sister, Ann, completed our family.
I was baptized Elizabeth after my paternal grandmother, whom everyone called “Betsy,” so I, too, was called Betsy. The four of us children received lots of love from our parents as we were growing up. We attended St. Mary Grade School, staffed by our School Sisters of St. Francis
I was a tomboy in the truest sense of the word. As an eighth grader in 1947, I demonstrated that it wasn’t totally a man’s world. That year Chilton held its first hometown derby and, much to the dismay of the boys, I was the derby’s first-place winner!
While attending Chilton High School, I remained involved in parish life. I served as Prefect of the Young Ladies’ Sodality at St. Mary Parish. In addition to Sunday Mass, I attended various parish devotions. Lenten devotions were special for me. I recall listening to sermons on the seven last words of Christ where I felt Jesus speaking to me. In response, I was drawn to visiting the Blessed Sacrament and especially praying for clarity concerning my vocation.
My four years at Chilton High were challenging, enriching, and enjoyable. With an academic focus built around business courses, I joined the work force in 1951, as one of Chilton High’s 61 graduates. I sought employment at Knauf & Tesch Company in Chilton and was hired as stenographer to William Knauf, Sr., the company’s president.
During my two years at Knauf & Tesch, I continued to pray for certitude concerning my religious vocation. I remembered Sister Mary Citina Svymbersky, my former eighth-grade teacher and Sodality moderator. One day I prayed, “Dear God, if you have Sister Citina return to St. Mary School a third time, I will take it as a sign that I should become a sister.” My prayers were answered. In 1953, Sister Citina returned to Chilton and she helped me prepare to enter the School Sisters of St. Francis that August.
As a postulant, I studied at Alverno College. With my business background, Mother Corona concluded that I should prepare to teach high-school business courses.
When I became an official member of the School Sisters of St. Francis on June 13, 1954, I received the name Sister Jesse Marie. My religious name honored my father, whose name was Jess. In June 1962, I made my final vows when I was teaching at Bergan High School in Fremont, Nebraska.
Looking back on life, I recall my 50th Jubilee celebration as a School Sisters of St. Francis. I felt deeply grateful to the Most Holy Trinity’s steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness to me. My gratitude is well expressed by a quote from the third chapter of Lamentations. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” (3:22-23)
For 31 of my first 50 years, I ministered in Catholic high schools as a business education instructor in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Illinois. Seventeen of my 31 years were spent teaching at Ryan High School. These years were especially growth-filled for me. The “Ryan Spirit” was one of adventure, where the faculty was continuously stretching itself to find better ways to teach young people. I felt privileged to serve as student council moderator for 11 years.
Ryan’s commitment to individualized learning became my passion as I developed learning experiences designed to meet the individual needs of students. Constant efforts were made to create a spirit of family at Ryan, where students experienced love, acceptance, encouragement, and understanding. Thus it was a sad day for me, along with other staff and students, when Ryan High School closed in 1983. Yet I believe the spirit of Ryan High School lives on through its former students and others who experienced this school.
While living in Omaha, I participated in two activities that influenced my spiritual development. One was charismatic prayer meetings from 1972 to 1983. The other was an experience where I joined a group of sisters once a month as they sang for the Sunday Mass at Lincoln Penitentiary.
The charismatic meetings gave me a beautiful experience of freedom of spirit in prayer. My involvement with charismatic prayer increased my desire to delve more deeply into scripture. This led to personal experiences where God spoke powerfully through scripture to me.
My life changed dramatically in 1988 when I was hospitalized for depression in Chicago. My experience with depression was a turning point in my life and a very significant learning experience. I came to understand the importance of “person over performance,” and of developing a sense of significant being: “Just to be is a blessing; just to live is holy.” I grew in an appreciation for the precious gift of time and the importance of attitude and gratitude in my life. I experienced a greater sensitivity to others and desired to help them feel important for who they were through small acts of concern and thoughtfulness. I also learned to accept others just as they are and to creatively be a life-giver to them. I was particularly drawn to those with limitations, especially elder adults.
On October 5, 1990, I came to St. Joseph Convent in Campbellsport from Milwaukee, where I had again been hospitalized for depression. What a blessing for me to arrive at St. Joseph Convent! I came to realize that persons are gifts which a loving God sends us. I felt and saw the wonderful caring spirit evident among eldering sisters and staff. Seeing these interactions, as well as the prayer atmosphere, helped me grow well again. My heart was filled with gratitude to all who showed me kindness and supported me during my difficult experience of depression.
From 1992 to 2003, I was employed at St. Joseph Convent, Campbellsport, in the personal services department. It was a privilege to serve our eldering sisters in different capacities, while also being enriched by their loving presence in my life. In 2003, at the age of 70, I retired and stayed on as a volunteer, again happily serving the residents.
While living at St. Joseph Convent in Campbellsport, I came to realize how truly blessed I was as I came to understand and live the words of St. John of the Cross: “What we need most in order to make progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetites and tongue, for the language He best hears is silent love.”
Truly through my experience of depression, I experienced God’s mercy in a very powerful way. With Mary, our class patron, I say “Fiat” to God’s plan for me as I continue on my life’s journey as a School Sister of St. Francis. With Mary, I say “YES” as I continue to live so that my whole life forever reflects the greatness of my Lord. I have opened my whole person to God, my Savior, expanding with grateful joy. He is the Holy One who bestows his love upon all who are open to him – to everyone, and to each one personally. Those who long for the outpouring of his love find fulfillment.