On Sunday, September 8, Sister Joan Fitzgerald celebrated 70 years with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) in Dubuque, Iowa.
Fitzgerald entered the BVM community on September 8, 1954. She professed her first vows on March 19, 1957, and final vows July 16, 1962.
Sister LaDonna Manternach, president of the BVM sisters joined the celebration and honored Fitzgerald for her lifelong mission of serving others. Fitzgerald is one of 11 BVM sisters who have celebrated 70 years of service.
Fitzgerald graduated from Mundelein College in Chicago, Illinois and knew she wanted to become a sister.
“It was the example I had from my family and from the sisters who taught me that motivated me to become a religious sister. They had the greatest influence on me,” Fitzgerald said.
In 1962 she moved to Phoenix, Arizona. She arrived at Xavier High School (becoming Xavier College Prep in 1982) as a Spanish teacher. Later she became the school’s treasurer, and now, she serves as president.
“When I was asked to be a treasurer for the school, I knew very little about this subject. The principal at the time told me, ‘Your mother was a bookkeeper; you can do this.”’
Fitzgerald is not the only religious sister celebrating a lifetime of service. Sister Lynn Winsor is also celebrating a milestone of 50 years at Xavier.
Winsor began working at Xavier in August of 1974. She arrived at Xavier as a physical education teacher and spent seven years teaching.
She became athletic director in 1977 while also coaching softball, basketball and golf. Winsor coached the girls golf team for 47 years until she passed on the role to coach Tui Selvaratnam last year.
Winsor has led the Xavier team to a national record of 158 state championships, 38 of them in golf, and 71 state runners-up.
She is a founding member of the AIA’s Girls Equity and Sports Committee which was started in the late 80s. She recalls that when Title IX was passed, most people did not pay attention to it. While she was beginning the talks to other schools about the importance of Title IX, she witnessed something that still remains in her memory.
“I’ll never forget, the boys had covered dugouts, locker rooms and scoreboards. The girls had no dugouts, no scoreboards, and used the leftover JV uniforms at this school. That just shows you how bad it could be.”
Winsor has made it her goal to make schools more accountable in regards to what they do for girls.
“You just have to have the courage to do it,” says Winsor. She thanks Sister Joan and Sister Joanie Nuckols for pushing her to start new programs in women’s sports.
Denise Macrina, dean of students, has worked with both of these sisters for a long time and admires how their faith and leadership have contributed to the success of Xavier.
“These two women have taught me peace, fairness and faith. To watch these women in their deepest faith and know that that’s what’s being mirrored through Xavier is truly remarkable.”
