Sister Virginia Walsh, ASC died Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, at the Ruma Center in Ruma, Ill. She was 91 and had been a professed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for 71 years.
She was born to Irish immigrant parents in Syracuse, N.Y., who moved to St. Louis when she was 4 years old. Orphaned by age 11, she was raised by an aunt and uncle.
She entered the Adorers of the Blood of Christ at Ruma, Ill., in 1942, professed her first vows as Mary Dehlia on July 1, 1944, and made her final profession on July 1, 1949.
She devoted herself to meeting the needs of the sick, poor and disadvantaged. After earning an R.N. degree at St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis in 1948, she worked at St. Vincent (now Taylorville) Memorial Hospital in Taylorville, Ill., (1948-50, 1952-61, 1966-69), St. Clement (now Red Bud Regional) Hospital in Red Bud, Ill., (1950-51, 1961-66), and Catholic Children’s Home in Alton, Ill., (1951-52).
In 1971, she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, Texas, and then resumed nursing, working in outpatient clinics with the East Coast Migrant Workers in New York State and in Homestead, Fla., (1971-72) and at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro, Ill., (1972-73).
She served in Liberia, West Africa from 1973 to ’80, leading an effort to build a medical clinic that treated 100 patients a day, most of them women and children. It was there that she learned to diagnose leprosy.
After returning from Africa, she launched a second career as a Catholic chaplain after completing a clinical pastoral care education program at Saint Louis University.
She provided pastoral care services at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill., (1981-82), and then, for the next 26 years, worked at St. Vincent (now Taylorville) Memorial Hospital as chaplain and pastoral care director (1982-2008).
Sister Virginia is survived by her nephew and nieces and many friends, co-workers, and her community of Adorers of the Blood of Christ.
She was buried in the convent cemetery.
Both Mark and I express our condolences to all that had the opportunity to meet Sister Virginia. Her tenderness towards the world is an example for all. I will forever feel blessed that she was there in our time of need to show her love and tenderness. I am sure that the sounds of angels wings sung their welcome upon her entrance to Heaven.
So sorry to hear of Sister Virginia’s passing. I enjoyed working with her for so many years at SVMH. She had a way of always making you feel important and special whenever you spent time with her. I loved her sense of humor, yet she helped so many people in their darkest hour. The hospital was never quite the same after she retired, her presence there was nearly iconic. She was a very special and accomplished person who spent her life giving to others.
I worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital years ago and Sister Virginia gave comfort to all she came in contact with. May she rest in peace with God and his Angels and Saints.
It was a true gift to have known Sister Virginia. Her loving, gentle, happy outreach to everyone is one I will never forget. I thank God for the ways her kindness & joy touched my life & the life of my sister. What a blessing she was to all!