The Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls honored their 60th Jubilarians with a private celebration on June 18, 2023. Those honored were Sisters Pat Forster, Shirley Mueller and Grace Skwira.
The sisters entered the novitiate at St. Francis Convent on July 31, 1963. Sister Pat made her final profession of vows on June 21, 1970; Sister Shirley made her final profession of vows on July 5, 1970; and Sister Grace made her final profession of vows on August 12, 1970. They were the first class that was able to make their final profession of vows in their home parishes.
Sister Pat Forster
Raised in the Alexandria area, Sister Pat earned a nursing degree and began her ministry in the Moorhead area, working with very poor families, migrants and social services. She later received both a master’s and doctoral degree in theology and ministry and served as celebrant of liturgies and new life and ministry in St. Paul, Chicago, Venezuela, Guatemala and Mexico. She has also had many responsibilities in administration for Public Health, long-range planning in parishes, and building the mission in San Rafael, Mexico. As director of novices-formation for eight years, Sister Pat collaborated in launching the inter-community archdiocesan formation program.
Sister Pat says, “I treasure living simply. The spirit is my guide. I am so grateful. If there is one word about my life of conversion, it is gratitude. It is thank you. Thank you especially for my faith.”
Sister Shirley Mueller
Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Battle Lake area, Sister Shirley has lived and worked in many places including Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, Tanzania and Texas. She has ministered in a variety of fields as well, including nurse’s aide, nurse, nursing home assistant supervisor, hospital chaplain, pastoral minister, clerk, African missionary, massage therapist, gardener, home health aide, assisted living night cook and pharmacy technician.
Sister Shirley reflected that, “The Catholic Church has been my home wherever I have been all over the world. It has always contained a supportive community for me wherever I am. I wanted to give my life to God in prayer when I joined the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, and I am eternally grateful for their support and direction through all these 60 years to do that.”
Sister Grace Skwira
Originally from rural Opole, Sister Grace has “lived the Gospel” in various capacities, and in places near and far, with the elderly at St. Otto’s and St. Francis Nursing Homes and caring for the sick at hospitals in Breckenridge and Onamia, Minn. She tended to the sick as a nurse/midwife in Peru and Bolivia and did Hispanic ministry in Alabama. Sister Grace accompanied Cambodian refugees in a refugee camp in Thailand, served on two mission trips to Nicaragua, and helped in New Orleans cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. For the past nine years, she has served on the Franciscan Sisters’ Leadership Team.
Sister Grace shared, “God’s goodness and faithfulness has come to me through my Franciscan Sisters, my family and the people with whom I ministered. I feel a deep happiness and peace in my heart for having said ‘yes’ to the call to be a Franciscan Sister 60 years ago and am grateful for the blessings this way of life has been for me.”
