Different start to call still leads to the same path

By Amanda Lauer
Compass Correspondent

Why does a statue of the Virgin Mary at the Holy Family Convent motherhouse in Manitowoc wear a diamond ring? It's thanks to Sr. Verna Osterhout, a 50th jubilarian.

Born in Pontiac, Mich. in 1935, Sr. Verna was considering a vocation.

	Sisters' Jubilees 2006
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"I was at Loretto Academy in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. We had a couple of retreats in our senior year," Sr. Verna said. "My cousin was in the same group and the two of us decided after that retreat that we wanted to be sisters."

Sr. Verna struggled with her decision. "I dated and actually got engaged. I told my cousin that I wouldn't be going, so she went alone. The Lord and I had a tug of war. I finally said to (my fiancé) 'I have to go just get it out of my system.'

"We continued dating until the last night before I went. I said 'I'll be back in a month' and he said 'Oh no, you won't. But I'm glad I lost you to God and not to another guy.' The Lord won. I'm glad he did."

Her engagement ring now graces the hand of the Blessed Mother.

On Aug. 15, 1956, she made her vows. After receiving her degree from Silver Lake College, she taught biology there until she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1985. While the tumor was successfully treated, she could no longer teach because of occasional bouts of amnesia.

So, for 16 years, Sr. Verna worked in the printing and communication areas at the motherhouse and was the community photographer. Currently she works at St. Francis Convent in Manitowoc caring for elderly residents. She does the "beautifying" outside the building as well.

"I am definitely glad I made the decision," she said. "God helped me make the decision. He knew what he was talking about and He knew what he was leading me to and I'm certainly glad He won and not me because in His end I won too."

Sr. Greta Peter, also celebrating her golden jubilee this year, had a more direct route to the Manitowoc convent.

"I was born in Waukesha May 3, 1937, "she said. "I went to Catholic Memorial, the high school that was staffed by our sisters. I spent one year there and then came to the convent."

Sr. Greta had been inspired by her teachers. "Dealing with the sisters and working with the sisters and seeing the joy that they had and the happiness that they had, that was what I wanted - to be like them and to have that joy that they had. It was their example, besides the Lord instilling the vocation into me, and that's why I came to the convent, just to be a sister."

Utilizing her mathematics degree, Sr. Greta taught in Wisconsin for six years and then in Hawaii from 1965 to 1976. "That was a real exciting time over there. We really had a bond of community over there because we didn't come back home (for weekends or school breaks). It's a whole different climate and atmosphere."

Then, in April of 1977, after training in California with the Sisters of Mercy in their finance offices, Sr. Greta returned to Manitowoc to work in the finance office of the motherhouse.

Her work there has been gratifying. "You're serving the community. Even though you're working at the motherhouse, we take care of all the finances for our sisters out in the missions (as well as) all those here at the motherhouse. We help them and in turn they're out in the community teaching and doing the like in the hospitals and so on."