Page 6 - BusinessWest September 4, 2023

Golf has always been a big of part of her life, but Sr. Caritas has never been able to shoot her age.
Staff Photo
now. “From my perspective, she’s coached, inspired, and facilitated the growth of so many people and organizations. Her résumé is astounding, and the number of awards she’s received is amazing. She’s amazing.
“The word that comes to me is indefatigable — no matter what the problem is, the task, or the role, she engages herself and gath-
whether that involved
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ers others around her,” Sr. Popko went on, using the present tense, as we will throughout this piece. “Just think of her nickname, ‘Sr. Sludge,’ and how she dealt with the Bondi’s Island odor problem.”
For this issue, BusinessWest sat down with Sr. Caritas on the occasion of her 100th birthday to talk about her life and career — and where she found all the energy that drove her, and continues to drive her today.
Century Unlimited
On the door to Sr. Caritas’s apartment at Providence Place in Holyoke, there’s a cloth sign hanging on a hook that reads “Golf suits me to a tee.” Below that, there’s another sign featuring the ‘golfer’s prayer’ — “May I live long enough to shoot my age.”
She certainly has lived long enough, but, by her reckoning, she’s never accomplished that rare feat. Indeed, golf has always been a hobby, and sometimes a time and place to get work done. But, by her own admission, she’s never been very good, although, as most everyone knows, she has a hole in one to her credit, at the 10th hole at East Mountain Country Club in Westfield.
While golf has been a constant in her life and something that helps capture who she is, to understand her life and what she has meant to the region, one needs to take in another piece of art hang- ing in her apartment.
It’s a framed print of an editorial cartoon published decades ago in the Republican. It features a much younger Sr. Caritas (she was 66 at the time), then president of Mercy Hospital, sporting boxing gloves and a sweatshirt that reads, “I love a good fight! Knock out Dukakis.” Explaining the image, she said then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was not supporting the state’s hospitals to the degree that she and others thought he should, and the difference of opinion had turned into a real battle.
‘I love a good fight’ is not a phrase one would likely attach to a member of the Sisters of Providence, but in this case, it fits. Sr. Caritas has never backed
down from a fight she
thought was important, Caritas
“The word that comes to me is indefatigable — no matter what the problem is, the task, or the role, she engages herself and gathers others around her.”
Beloved Sister. Thank you for all you do - and for all you have done and will do for healthcare, Springfield, Western Mass. and the world. You are a true inspiration to all. We hold you dearly in our hearts. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
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Dianne & Paul Doherty and Family.
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6 SEPTEMBER 4, 2023
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