Jubilarian 2020 - Sister Carol Patron

Sister Carol Patron was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1959 and was received into the novitiate in 1960 as Sister Denise Marie. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Fontbonne College in 1965 and a master’s degree in theological studies from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California, in 1989.

In the 1960s, Sister Carol taught at St. Roch Grade School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and at St. Francis de Sales Grade School in Denver, Colorado. She then served as principal at St. Francis de Sales from 1969 to 1973.

Moving to Atlanta in the 1970s, Sister Carol served at St. Anthony Grade School, first as a teacher then as principal. Following this, she taught the 13- to 16-year-olds for seven years at the Village of St. Joseph in Atlanta, a residential facility for children with learning, emotional and behavioral problems.

After a sabbatical and studies in Berkeley, Sister Carol served as an administrator and teacher at the Center for Growth and Wholeness. She became a massage therapist and helped train other religious and lay women and men in Massage: The Art of Anointing, a program that helped integrate healing touch into their ministries. She also taught junior high at St. Perpetua Grade School in Lafayette, California.

Following this, she then took her ministry to Springbank Retreat Center in Kingstree, South Carolina, where she served as a massage therapist, prayer and ritual coordinator for their sabbatical program and retreats, and office manager.

In 2002, Sister Carol provided homecare for the aged with CSJ Care in House Springs, Missouri. In 2003, she returned to Georgia as the executive director of the Cedar Hill Enrichment Center in Gainesville, Georgia. In 2006, she began eight years of service as the special projects coordinator for the Sullivan Center. The Sullivan Center worked with those in need of skills to better manage their finances, living and educational situations, offering a hand up rather than a hand out.

Retired since 2014, Sister Carol lives at the Village at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She volunteers with her CSJ community as a part-time archival aide.