It seems that Mary Ann was born into the world of the Ursuline Sisters. Her family always lived in Paola, Kan., and a few days after her birth her parents, Anna Belle and Ernest, brought little Mary Ann to the Ursuline convent where she was held in the arms of Sister Jerome, founder of the Paola Ursulines. Mary Ann in grade school was taught by the Ursulines; attended Ursuline Academy during high school, and after high school became an Ursuline Sister of Paola.
Mary Ann was the oldest of four children: brothers Ernie and Jim and her little sister, Elizabeth. After Grandma Scherman died, Mary Ann took care of Grandpa Scherman, visiting him after school each afternoon, making sure he took his medicine. That was the beginning of Anne Marie’s life-long interest of caring for the elderly.
On January 26, 1961, Mary Ann received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Ann Marie. From then on she was known as Annie. On January 2, 1963, she made temporary vows and went to Sister Formation College to get her bachelor’s degree. She made final vows in 1968. From 1965 to 1991, Sister Ann Marie taught first and second grades in the Catholic schools of the Kansas City area and several small towns in Kansas. During that time, she received a master’s degree from Emporia State College, always eager to find new ways to help her students learn. Deep within her soul, however, she was always driven to follow the call to care for the elderly and had, over the years, developed relationships with many who were her special friends. In 1991, she took a sabbatical at St. Louis University followed by CPE training. She then worked in a nursing home as chaplain at Providence Medical Center. Sister spent her last years caring for her dying mother, visiting the sick and elderly in their homes, and driving Sisters from Ursuline Motherhouse to doctor appointments.
Sister Ann Marie loved life, enjoyed the excitement of travel – buses, trucks, trains, cars, motorcycles and her favorite, planes. Her longest trip was to England to visit her brother who was living there. She toured the country extensively, riding behind him on his motorcycle. Among Sister’s favorite things were museums, good literature and classical music, as were garage sales and thrift stores. She deeply loved nature. All living things, human or not, she viewed as God’s way of saying. “I love you, be happy!”
When Sister Ann Marie was diagnosed with cancer of the lungs, she decided against having chemo. As her physical stamina deteriorated, she came, for more intense nursing care, to Saint Joseph Villa, the healthcare facility of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph.
During the short time Sister was in Saint Joseph Villa, she developed deep friendships with the sick and elderly Sisters she encountered each day, and came to know by name many of the active Sisters living on campus. Her loving ways, her humor, her lighthearted peace and intense longing for heaven as she came face to face with death remain most vividly in the memory of the Sisters at Mount Saint Joseph.
Following the Mass of Resurrection the morning of November 12, 2010, Sister’s remains were carried in solemn procession for burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery at Mount Saint Joseph.