Jubilarian - 2022 Sister Jo Ann Geary

Sister Jo Ann was born on August 19, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, to Edward J. and Marie Katherine (Griffin) Geary. She and her sister Judy were raised on the Southside of Chicago. She first met the Sisters of St. Joseph at Little Flower High. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1961 and was received into the novitiate in 1962 as Sister Edward Marie.

She studied nursing in California and Missouri before earning a master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner from the Medical College of Georgia in 1975.

Sister Jo Ann is a nurse practitioner, providing compassionate care for the dear neighbor for over 50 years.

In 1966, she began as a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood, Missouri. She then served the sisters at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She then returned to St. Joseph Hospital as a staff nurse until 1973.

Sister Jo Ann joined the East Coast Migrant Health Program and served migrant and seasonal farm workers up and down the stream in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida until 1975.

In 1979, Sister Jo Ann became the provider and administrator at Wilson Memorial Health Service in Cummings, Georgia, under an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Grant to provide health care to the underserved. She was then asked to start up another primary care center under another ARC grant. She spent her next four years as the administrator and provider at Bartow Primary Health Clinic in White, Georgia.

She then moved to Kentucky in 1984 to work at the Aaron Medical Center in Columbia, Kentucky, where she served as vice chief of staff. There she instituted a Jail Health Program, established protocols and procedures and became one of the providers of care at the first Regional Jail in Columbia.

In 1988 she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to work with the Mercy Mobile Clinic for the Homeless, setting up clinics in soup kitchens and shelters. Later, she served HIV/AIDS patients at the infectious disease clinic in Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

After nine years and the clinic, Sister Jo Ann returned to St. Louis on sabbatical. Volunteer work led to her next role at the Women’s Safe House, where she became the medical director and director of Support Services from 1999 to 2003. In 2006 she was asked to set up the medical and nursing department for the Mercy sisters in their new facility called Catherine’s Residence for their sisters.

Sister Jo Ann then spent the next 10 years (2008-2018) in Gulu, Uganda, as a nurse practitioner. She started her practice under a huge Mango Tree near the grounds of the government hospital. As the number of patients became so large she was invited into the hospital grounds to use a space shared by pharmacy. She later moved to the St. Mauritz property where a primary clinic was open. Sister Jo Ann then supervised the building of the Aber Lynne Maternity Clinic as well as working on a water filter project to provide safe water for the people of Gulu and the surrounding area. Both projects are still in full swing and the CSJ community continues to sponsor the water filter project again due to the generosity of many.

Sister Jo Ann returned to the United States in 2018. She now serves with a focus on immigration, spending time volunteering at migrant welcoming centers in El Paso and Laredo, Texas.

Click here to make a donation in honor of Sister Jo Ann.