In Brief

Precious Blood Sisters have been busy with a variety of recent events. In all that we do, we strive to continue to fulfill our mission to proclaim God’s love by being a life-giving, reconciling presence in our fractured world.

May 9 Sister Mary E. Wendeln and Peace, Justice and Ecology Coordinator Jen Morin-Williamson joined 50 other Ohioans at the Statehouse in Columbus for the presentation of Senate Bill 101. The bill would abolish the death penalty in Ohio.

Community Gems

June 1 — Our own Jen Morin-Williamson was recognized by the Dayton Daily News as a “Community Gem” — and we certainly agree! Morin-Williamson was nominated by Cheri Overholser; the two women co-chair the Dayton chapter of SOAP (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution), which works to prevent human trafficking. Great work, Jen!

Aug. 9 — Rap Hankins was also recognized as a “Community Gem” by the Dayton Daily News for his work in advocating for electric vehicles. Last spring, Hankins visited Salem Heights with his nonprofit Drive Electric Dayton and let some of our Sisters go for a spin in an EV. Jen MorinWilliamson nominated him for the honor. Congratulations, Rap!

June 1 — Sarah Aisenbrey, the Congregation’s archivist, and Jen Morin-Williamson gave a PechaKucha presentation titled “Gem City’s Precious Sisters” at Longfellow School in Dayton. The presentation included a bit of the Community’s history and highlighted a Sister from each decade over the past 100 years. PechaKucha Dayton is a quarterly idea-sharing party and networking event. The PechaKucha presentation format began in 2003 in Tokyo.

June 16 — Four students from Carroll High School in Dayton visited Sisters at Amherst House and enjoyed dinner and prayer time together as part of the school’s Mission Dayton program. Participants also visited other sites, such as a prison and a group home, to learn about the people and places that make up our communities. Our visitors had not been around Sisters before. We enjoyed our time together!

July 24 — Sisters and staff enjoyed a luncheon at Salem Heights with Homefull’s Chief Executive Officer Tina Patterson and Chief Strategic Officer Trudy Elder. Homefull was founded in 1988 by Sister Dorothy Kammerer and other volunteers. It began as a place for the homeless to go during the day and has expanded to take a comprehensive approach to addressing poverty.

August 21-23 — Sister Pauline Siesegh participated in the welcome weekend and orientation for the Inter-congregational Cooperative Novitiate program in Chicago. Sister Ann Clark joined her as her novitiate director. In addition to Sister Pauline, this year’s group also includes Sister Katie, BVM, from Iowa; and Sister Emerite, FHM, originally from Congo. 

Sister Mary Ann Mozser

September 1938 — August 31, 2023

AMass of Christian Burial for Precious Blood Sister

Mary Ann Mozser was held at the Salem Heights chapel in Dayton on September 6. She had been a Sister of the Precious Blood for 67 years.

Mary Ann was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Michael Paul Mozser and Gizella (Mesgaros) Mozser. Mary Ann wrote about her loving family, where every day would begin with a morning kiss and every evening would end with a chat about the day, night prayers, and being gently tucked into bed.

Mary Ann got to know the Sisters of the Precious Blood at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish and School. She loved school and her teachers, and it was there that she discovered her vocation to be a teacher and a Sister.

Mary Ann entered the Sisters of the Precious Blood in 1956 and professed her vows in 1958. She was given the religious name of Sister Rose Michael. Sister Mary Ann began her teaching ministry in various parish schools throughout Ohio, even going back to teach at Our Lady of Good Counsel. In 1975, she was assigned to teach in Linton, North Dakota, and then returned to her beloved city of Cleveland a year later. With that move, Sister Mary Ann ministered as the principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel School and later at St. Dominic Parish School in Shaker Heights.

While working at St. Dominic, she became the volunteer coordinator of the L’Arche community in Cleveland. She volunteered and for a few years had a full-time ministry at Parma Community Hospital in the emergency department as a patient representative.

In 2003, Sister Mary Ann became vice president of mission and ministry at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland. It was there that Mary Ann was the happiest. She understood that each person who walked through the doors of St. Vincent’s was a child of God and so very valuable, whether they believed it or not.

In 2015, Sister Mary Ann “retired” and became the coordinator for volunteers at St. Vincent’s, where no amount of giving love and care was too much for her.

Frequently, she shared her many talents with the Congregation. For four years she was chair of the committee that established the CPPS Heritage Mission Fund Corporation. Once the Fund was established, she served as its chair until very recently.

Sister Mary Ann joins her parents and her brother Dennis in heaven. She is survived by her good friend, Sister Martha Eckstein, OSF, her Precious Blood Community of Sisters, her sister-in-law Kathleen Mozser and many friends and colleagues.

Interment took place in the Maria Anna Brunner Memorial Garden.