(Sister Mary Carmelita)
Sister Maryann Bochsler was born on a farm in St. Paul, Ore., and grew up in rural Mount Angel, Ore. After graduation from St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Vancouver, Wash., she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1947.
She worked in nursing service in “practically every hospital in Sacred Heart Province, from Walla Walla to Burbank,” except for Alaska. She was a housekeeping maid, nurse, nursing supervisor, assistant administrator, patient visitor, pastoral care chaplain and nursing in-service teacher.
In 1975 she was hired to establish a pastoral care department at Mount St. Vincent in Seattle. “I always wanted to be at the bedside, and in pastoral care I was able to do that,” she said. “Those were very satisfying, very nourishing times for me.” She retired in 1995 but volunteered at Mount St. Vincent, Seattle, as a Eucharistic minister and sacristan. Her ministry is prayer and presence at her home at St. Joseph Residence, Seattle