Nun called to serve even before birth
PATT KEITH, The (Altoona) Mirror
April 24, 2021
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HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP)
In Youngstown, Ohio, a large portrait of St. Therese of Lisieux, a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun, hung in the bedroom of Joseph and Mary Tokasz Ferenchak. Today, the same portrait provides solace to their daughter, Theresa Ann, now known as Carmelite Sister M. Joachim Anne Ferenchak, administrator and CEO of Garvey Manor and Our Lady of the Alleghenies Residence.
Sister Joachim is overseeing Garvey’s second major expansion during her 24-year tenure at the Hollidaysburg home.
The fourth of the couple’s six children, Sister Joachim said her mother never told her the story behind the saint’s painting until the day she entered the convent of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.
1 CINCINNATI, Ohio (April 15, 2021) – When presented with the opportunity to come back to his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio to change lives, Information Systems Technician (Submarines) 1st Class Marlin Flanders jumped at the opportunity.
After graduating high school, Flanders completed his bachelor’s degree from the College of Mount Saint Joseph. Job prospects seemed thin even with his new degree in liberal studies and he knew he needed a change. Luckily, he had a friend that could help with that. Flanders’ friend was a Navy recruiter and in 2014, enlisted him in the Navy as an information systems technician.
“I had no experience working in IT, other than downloading music and using social media, but was excited to learn the trade,” said Flanders. “I chose to go submarines because it would get me to bootcamp even faster.”
pkeith@altoonamirror.com
Garvey Manor administrator Sister
Joachim Anne Ferenchak, of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, entered religious life in 1967. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
In Youngstown, Ohio, a large portrait of St. Therese of Lisieux, a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun, hung in the bedroom of Joseph and Mary Tokasz Ferenchak. Today, the same portrait provides solace to their daughter, Theresa Ann, now known as Carmelite Sister M. Joachim Anne Ferenchak, administrator and CEO of Garvey Manor and Our Lady of the Alleghenies Residence.
Sister Joachim is overseeing Garvey’s second major expansion during her 24-year tenure at the Hollidaysburg home.