Sister Barbara Ann Muttra, ASC

“Well, it is two years now that the war started and it looks as if (Liberian guerilla fighter Charles) Taylor will not give up his land of fortune, between carrying buckets of diamonds and gold out of the country, also all the timber.”

Sister Barbara Ann Muttra, ASC

Barbara Ann Muttra was petite and feisty, the youngest of seven children who had her widowed mother’s grit, independence and sense of adventure. As a teenager in Springfield, Illinois, she volunteered at a camp for orphans. 

After nursing school, advanced training in surgical nursing, and jobs in hospitals, an orphanage and a nursing home, she signed up with Catholic Relief Services, which needed nurses at the height of the Vietnam War. She served from 1968 to 1971, working with orphans, shuttling food and medicine by boat to thousands of refugees, and picking shrapnel from bodies in the operating room. 

Before she left Vietnam, she had signed up for the Adorers’ mission in Liberia, where she ran clinics, trained midwives and health care workers, and improved the infant mortality rate. Her trademark smiley-face next to her signature on letters reflected her eternal optimism. 

Of all the Adorers who went to Liberia, Barbara Ann stayed the longest — 21 years, from 1971 until her murder, at age 69, on October 20, 1992 on the road between Gardnersville and Barnersville, Liberia.

Sister Shirley Kolmer, ASC

“Perhaps we will come to see the day when everyone recognizes that we all inherit the earth and we can allow each person, each people to claim their rightful inheritance.”

Sister Shirley Kolmer, ASC

Shirley Kolmer was only a teenager when she left her family farm in southern Illinois for the convent in Ruma. Religious life was her ticket to an education and the world beyond. She taught at Saint Louis University, then left on a Fulbright scholarship to teach young women in Liberia. 

She left for a stint as Province Leader at Ruma, but was eager to return to her work in Liberia. Her niece, Diane Kolmer, recalls their last time together in November 1991 during a visit to the U.S.: a happy evening of dinner, a few beers and lots of laughs. She was murdered less than a year later, at age 61, on October 23, 1992, outside of the sisters’ residence in Gardnersville, Liberia.

Sister Mary Joel Kolmer, ASC

“Making this moment the best we can is the way life goes best. We’ve got to share with our whole body as well as our soul when we do something, and that is the difference between being alive or dead.”

Sister Mary Joel Kolmer, ASC

Shirley Kolmer’s cousin, Mary Joel Kolmer, from Waterloo, Illinois, spent 25 years in the classroom before heading to Liberia in 1982. When the sisters began taking in young Liberian women who were contemplating religious life, Mary Joel became their teacher, mentor, spiritual director, and den mother. She was funny, played guitar, sang, danced and sketched art work. The young women loved her.

She gave 10 years to Liberia before she was killed by gunmen in an ambush on October 20, 1992. Mary Joel was 58.

One of the aspirants, now living in the States, says she will always be grateful for the Adorers’ influence in her life. She says she tries to live her life in a way that honors them and continues their legacy of kindness, love and caring. 

Sister Agnes Mueller, ASC

“I’m glad that I came. There have been learnings in pain, vulnerability and suffering, which I probably would not have allowed myself to experience in another place and culture. This may be the most growthful time of my existence because it is the lives of my sisters and brothers that now have highest priority.”

Sister Agnes Mueller, ASC

Agnes Mueller grew up during the Depression, the fifth of nine children. From the family home, it was an easy walk to the Adorers’ residence at their parish school in Bartelso. She visited frequently, so no one was surprised when Agnes said she wanted to become a sister. She yearned to become a missionary and wondered if the Adorers could provide that opportunity. She joined anyway and became a nurse, spending 15 years in the ministry. But it wasn’t enough. 

She hungered for more and kept searching. She studied theology, did parish work, and cared for her aging mother. Six months after her mom’s death, in 1987, she left for Liberia. 

She found her most fulfilling ministry there, helping Liberian women become more financially independent and bringing them more fully into the church. She started with the basics: teaching them to read. 

She taught other classes, worked in a clinic and met with young women interested in spirituality. She was shot to death with two of her sisters on October 23, 1992, outside of the sisters’ residence in Gardnersville, Liberia. She was 62.

Sister Kathleen McGuire, ASC

“Never before have I felt I was supposed to be there. Now I believe I am supposed to go. I believe we need to move to the call of our mission, not to the call of our comfort.”

Sister Kathleen McGuire, ASC

Kathleen McGuire grew up in the rural farming village of Ridgway, Illinois, in a family of five kids, and knew by age 6 that she wanted to be a sister. After eighth grade, she enrolled in the Adorers’ convent boarding school at Ruma and later joined the community. 

Initially, she followed the traditional sister path of classroom teacher and principal. Later, she became ardent about social justice and led justice initiatives for the former Ruma Province. In the mid-1980s, she presented and facilitated her Ruma sisters in a critical vote whether to break the law and offer sanctuary to refugees fleeing wars in Central America. They voted yes and took in several families along the migration path to safety.

Kathleen studied Spanish and was preparing for a ministry in Central America, but her friend and mentor, Shirley Kolmer, was calling her to Liberia instead. She spent the last 14 months of her life there, keeping house and records, and teaching. She was the youngest of the five missionaries, and the first to be shot to death on October 23, 1992, outside of the sisters’ residence in Gardnersville, Liberia. She was 54.