Sister Carolyn Ann Siebert

November 11, 1938-March 27, 2022

We are strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.

“S.Carolyn Ann was a kind and generous person. … We are in the same Band of 1957 and I enjoyed her cute sense of humor that often brightened up a serious moment in those early days together.” -

S. Noreen Ellison

A Sister of Charity for 64 years, S. Carolyn Ann Siebert grew up in Norwood, Ohio, attending St. John the Evangelist grade school in Deer Park and graduating from Regina Catholic High School, Norwood, in 1957. After high school she entered the Sisters of Charity on Sept. 8, 1957. It was the contact and relationships she had formed through visits to St. Joseph Orphanage in her younger years that drew her to religious life and the Sisters of Charity. She had a deep desire to work with children with special needs as a religious Sister, much like those she came to know on visits there.

S. Carolyn Ann’s ministries covered more than 55 years in service in a variety of capacities, but most always they involved children with special needs, their families or their caretakers. She first served as a group mother at St. Joseph Orphanage, Cincinnati (1960-’66); then Margery Reed Nursery, Denver, Colorado (1966-’68) and St. Joseph Infant Home, Cincinnati (1968-’77). This was followed by 12 years of service at the Infant Home as the coordinator of volunteer services. When the home began the program for children with significant developmental disabilities and medical fragilities in 1976, S. Carolyn Ann was most willing to seek additional volunteers to assist. She regarded the time spent thereafter as some of the most rewarding in her life. “My years working with God’s very special children were a blessing for me. They taught me patience, God’s love and what tremendous gifts God has blessed us with. What a gift I received from them,” she once shared.

Added S. Marianne Van Vurst, “When I came to St. Joseph Home in 1986, S. Carolyn Ann was providing direct care services to our residents. She truly loved the babies she took care of and was a wonderful example to our lay staff.”

In 1989 S. Carolyn Ann transitioned to serve as an administrative assistant for the Glenmary Home Missioners in Cincinnati. She went to St. Gertrude School, Cincinnati, to serve as religious studies office assistant in 1995. The remaining years of active ministry Sister served as a teacher aide, first at Sts. Peter and Paul School, Cincinnati (2002-’06) and then at St. Margaret of York, Loveland, Ohio (2006-’16) where she was once again interacting with special needs children. She would say, “I talked and did for the children as I would if there were no limitation or ability taken away. What a gift I received from them!”