Divine Providence sister, like many religious, recalls a life of love and service

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

As a young girl, the prospect of becoming a religious sister was one Divine Providence Sister Carleen Schumacher avoided. “I kept thinking ‘no, no, that’s not for me,’” she said. Years later, in 1968, Sister Carleen overcame that avoidance and joined the Sisters of Divine Providence, and she “never regretted it a day.”

“Thank goodness God kept nudging at me,” said Sister Carleen, “I did finally follow through.”

Sister Carleen served in schools for 30 years, 17 years as a primary teacher, and 13 as an administrator. However, in 1994, Sister Carleen was elected to the CDP’s provincial council as part of the leadership team full time, and left teaching. She was re-elected in 2004 but decided not to go back to teaching following her second term.

“I worked from 2009 to 2014 in Parish Kitchen,” a Catholic Charities run organization that provides food and other necessities, “and I would still be there today if I didn’t get re-elected in 2014,” Sister Carleen said. At the Parish Kitchen, Sister Carleen said she learned “far more from the people at Parish Kitchen” than she believed she helped them. “It was five wonderful years,” she said.

Sister Carleen said that she has loved each of her ministries, from teaching, to leadership, to serving the poor — and, now, Sister Carleen serves as the administrator for Holy Family Home, the retirement home for the Sisters of Divine Providence.

Reflecting on her life as a sister, Sister Carleen says that, while she would have loved to have gotten married, she was “called to a deeper life of prayer.”

“It’s really wonderful to live with women who are committed to the same thing I am,” she said, “They’re all committed to community life like I am, to a life of prayer, a life of living the vows. I think there’s a deep satisfaction for me and knowing I’m doing what I really felt God called me to do.”

Now, as she works closely with her fellow retired sisters, Sister Carleen recognizes the importance of supporting retired religious. “We really count on everybody’s prayers, naturally,” she said, “but there’s a really big financial piece to any nursing home.”

Contributions to collections like Dec. 14–15’s Retirement Fund for Religious provides care for women religious as they age, and, while Sister Carleen stated that she would “never want our sisters to live an extravagant life, we weren’t called to that,” many retired religious have medical needs which are often costly to meet.

The National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) estimates an annual care cost of over $1 billion for the nation’s more than 20,000 retired religious. In 2023, parishioners of the Diocese of Covington contributed $43,198.43 to the Retirement Fund for Religious in the diocese.

Assistance with these needs is greatly appreciated, said Sister Carleen, as well as the “support of the Diocese, and gratitude for what these sisters have done all their years.”