Sister Emily Anne Phelan

July 14, 1925-December 16, 2022

The kingdom of God is like a seed that grows without our knowing.

Abeacon of God’s love, S. Emily Anne Phelan was first introduced to the faith while at St. Vincent Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is also where she first met the Sisters of Charity. When she went for sacramental preparation as a child she was inspired by the Sisters as they went to and from the poorest areas of her town working with children not able to attend classes. She believed this was the influence that later attracted her to religious life, a commitment she made 80 years ago.

S. Emily Anne’s ministries spanned more than 50 years, which included classroom teaching and administration in Catholic schools, vocation/formation director and pastoral ministry. She began her years of service at Elizabeth Seton, Norwood, Ohio, teaching primary age children in 1945 and continuing in the role at schools in Ohio, Maryland and Michigan for nearly 20 years.

In 1963, the Catholic world was beginning to find ways to implement the influence of the Vatican Council II on the Church and individuals’ lives. S. Emily Anne, along with four other Sisters of Charity, were called upon to help this happen in the Sisters of Charity Formation program. It proved to be a challenging time as well as a tumultuous period of unrest for those in the Church and religious life. She credits the more than 300 young women that graced the Community during her five years in formation as having a significant influence on her life and continued to be a blessing to her after.

S. Donna Steffen recalls, “Emily was truly a woman of grace, of humility, simplicity and charity, talented, effective, relational, cheerful, trustworthy, discerning, with a deep spirituality. Each of us who were postulants with her as director, and who knew her in various ways in our lives, were very blessed.”

In 1990 S. Emily Anne was asked to organize and establish a Pastoral Care Department at Good Samaritan Hospital, Dayton, Ohio. After the program was up and running she went into Clinical Pastoral Education, working in several California hospitals; next she came to St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado, to organize and develop a department of Pastoral Care there. As chaplain Sister was also responsible for Mission Effectiveness and Values in Leadership Programs and chairing the Bio-Ethics Forum. She would say that some of the most profoundly spiritual and emotional opportunities occurred when she was in her pastoral care ministries.

In retirement S. Emily Anne had more time for her flower gardens, being outdoors, reading, short trips to the mountains and volunteering. Her retirement ministries included offering her time to SET (Service, Empowerment, Transformation) medical clinics, prison ministry, transitional housing for the homeless and Habitat for Humanity.