Sister Elsie Gamez

(Sister Francis de Sales)

While many of our Sisters have their roots in small towns, Sister Elsie was a big city kid. She was born in San Antonio, Texas, and spent her childhood moving among San Antonio, Chicago, and Monterrey, Mexico.

Elsie’s first encounter with Sisters was as a first grader in Mexico. She recalls that they were dressed in full habit and remembers them as being young, beautiful, and very kind. Unfortunately, the Mexican government put a law into effect that banned Sisters from wearing habits. Unwilling to comply, they were forced to leave the country.

After her graduation from grade school, Elsie’s family moved to Chicago, arriving on July 21st, 1941. The day after their arrival, she went shopping with her cousins and was delighted to see two Sisters, in full habit and looking radiant with joy, leaving the store the girls were about to enter. The encounter brought wonderful memories from Mexico, and she felt deep stirrings to her heart. Through her contact with Sisters at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in South Chicago, Elsie’s desire to become a Sister grew. When it was time to enter high school, Elsie was encouraged by a Claretian priest to attend St. Patrick Academy in Momence, Illinois. While she was sitting in a parlor waiting to meet the Principal, Elsie had the thought, “Perhaps I will join these Sisters.” And after finishing two years of high school, that is just what she did. Elsie joined the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary on July 22nd, exactly four years after that encounter at the store. Although nobody was formally assigned to be her mentor, Sister Elsie says her Novice Mistress, Sister Rosemary DuFault, played that role in her life.

Sister Elsie has served in a number of ministries, all in Illinois. She worked in the boarding school and convent in Momence. She was the head cook in both Manteno and Batavia. At various times and parishes, she taught CCD to 3rd graders. For seventeen years, Sister worked in Hispanic Ministry, serving in Momence, Joliet, and Plano. For six of those years, she served as the Diocesan Director for Hispanic Ministry. Then in 1988, Sister began work in Pastoral Care. She served in both Mercy Hospital in Urbana and in St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee before retiring in 2007. Not one to sit idle, she went on to serve as a volunteer at St. Mary’s Hospital and assisted Sister Loretta in teaching English as a Second Language. In 2011, at the invitation of the pastor of St. Teresa Parish in Kankakee, Sister Elsie began doing language translations as a volunteer ministry, continuing in this role at St. John Paul II Parish, also in Kankakee. Sister now serves as a Spiritual Companion to persons in need.

Sister Elsie found Pastoral Care to be the most fulfilling of all her ministries. She always enjoyed delving into theology and psychology and feels that her studies and practicums at various colleges, as well as life challenges, prepared her for this field. When asked which of the three aspects of our charism is the one to which she is most drawn, Sister Elsie says that it is self-giving, but that to her, self-giving includes the other two: faith and family spirit. Certainly, all three are evident to those who know her. Sister adds, “Any good that I have done has its origins and completion in God’s merciful love.”

Contact Sister Back