Sr. Therese MacDonald, O.L.M.

1927-2013

May/June 2013

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Sr. Therese MacDonald died on the 26th day of February, 2013. Born on Panmure Island, Prince Edward Island, she received all her education in P.E.I. and graduated from Charlottetown Hospital as a nurse in 1948. Even in childhood, Therese had been fascinated with the lives and works of the missionaries she read about in China magazine (later named Scarboro Missions published by Scarboro Missions. After three years of practice in her chosen nursing profession, she decided that she too would become a missionary. In December 1951 she set off for Alexandria, Ontario, to join the congregation of Our Lady’s Missionaries.

After making her first vows in June 1954, Therese worked in Hotel Dieu Hospital in Cornwall, Ontario, as a clinical supervisor of student nurses until her appointment to Okene, Nigeria. After leaving Nigeria, she worked in Hotel Dieu Hospital in St.Catharines, Ontario, and at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto until June 1965 when she was missioned to Brazil. After language study, she worked at the Maternidade Escola (Maternity Hospital) in the city of Fortaleza in the northeastern state of Ceara. She then worked in the town of Mulungu in a rural area of the state, after which she was invited to do the parish secretarial work in the hills of Aratuba. She remembered those years, particularly in Aratuba, as among the happiest of her missionary life.

In 1996 Therese was appointed to the community Finance Office at Our Lady’s Missionaries’ central house on Leander Street in Toronto where she lived and worked until late October of 2012 when her health began to decline. Her last months were spent at Providence Healthcare in Toronto where she was very well cared for, as she herself acknowledged.

For the last six years, Natalia Tavares has been working with the Sisters at the central house where Therese lived. Deeply saddened by Therese’s death, Natalia had this to say:

“Sr. Therese was a very good and patient person. She was always busy crocheting, embroidering, or knitting cotton bandages to be sent to leprosy patients. She also loved to do crossword puzzles. And she excelled in cooking and baking and was so happy to teach me how to prepare special dishes. It delighted her when I would go and ask her a question. She kept me company sitting in her chair by the window facing the ravine while I did my work in the kitchen. I already missed her so much when she left for Providence Healthcare and I will miss her even more now that she has gone.”

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