ALUMNI LEGACY OF A LION TWO GENERATIONS TRAVEL FROM CALIFORNIA TO ATTEND THE MOUNT Mary Palmisano ’57, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her parents were from Chicago, but moved to Alberquerque when Mary’s mother developed Tuberculosis. Mary attended St. Vincent’s Academy, founded by Sister Blandina Segale, S.C. Mary has long been inspired by Sister Blandina’s adventurous spirit and commitment to organizing public school systems, and says she was key in spreading the Sisters of Charity’s mission work out West. In many ways it is thanks to Sister Blandina that Mary eventually ended up at the Mount, years later. After St. Vincent’s Academy, Mary attended St. Mary’s High School, also founded by the Sisters of Charity. She earned a scholarship to the Regina School of Nursing at St. Joseph Hospital in Albuquerque, and then worked at a psychiatric hospital. Six months later, the Regina School asked Mary to come back as a nursing arts instructor. Mary realized she wanted more education. She talked to the Sisters of Charity and they offered her a working scholarship to the Mount. Mary, already a registered nurse, enrolled at the Mount in 1955 as a junior to study public health nursing. She was the nurse in charge for Marian Hall and worked in cooperation with Sister Adele Clifford. “I would be there to help the students when they got sick,” she says. “I hated field hockey, because somebody would always get hurt and I was carrying 22 units and I had a lot of studying to do!” She laughs. Students ate at an assigned table for every meal with a Sister. Sister Adele was assigned to Mary’s table. Also at the table were education and music students, including Ann (Krauser) Bechtold ’57, and Phyllis (Zepf) Grannen ’57, women who are still dear friends to Mary today. “And they were so delightful,” Mary says. “They sang! And I fit right in because music was my passion.” Mary also played the piano and violin,
34 MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY
Mary Palmisano ‘57, and her grandson, Aaron Palmisano.
and was in the Mount’s orchestra and choir, which sang with the Cincinnati Symphony. After graduation, Mary’s first job was as a school nurse working with students grades one through eight at five schools in rural New Mexico. She married a teacher, Joseph Palmisano Jr., and they moved to Farmington, New Mexico. She got a job with the public health department and was charged with working with patients in San Juan County, including a Navajo reservation. “I’ve had such wonderful experiences, and it’s due to what I learned at the Mount and the ability to get into that kind of field,” she says. Mary then worked with the government, interviewing people who had been exposed to radium in the drinking water. Mary and her family moved to California where she subbed at hospitals. Years passed and her family (now five children) moved to Ventura, California, where Mary got a part-time job working at the county behavioral health department. After the birth of their eighth child, Mary began working full-time at the department, for a total of 36 years. She also earned a master’s degree in marriage, family, and child counseling. Retired, Mary still lives in Ventura. She enjoys taking communion to homebound people as a Eucharistic
The Seton Journal, 1957-05, Vol 34 - No 13.
minister, singing in the choir, and spending time with her 28 grandchildren, including Aaron Palmisano, a sophomore at the Mount. How did Aaron, who also grew up in Ventura, end up choosing a university 2,200 miles away? Mary, of course. “Since I’m from California, a lot of people have been asking, ‘What made you want to come out here?’ First off, the Mount is a great school,” Aaron says. “When I was making college decisions, I kept the Mount high on my list because I wanted to learn in a smaller environment working closely with my professors.”
