About Sister Rita Rerschweiler, SP
Sister Rita Ferschweiler was born and raised in St. Louis, Oregon, into the same parish where all of her grandparents and great-grandparents were born. The oldest of six children, she grew up working on her parents’ farm and helped them for several years after she graduated from high school. Then she moved to Portland and worked as a title and trust officer before becoming a novitiate at Mt. St. Vincent in Seattle in late 1942. She made her first profession in 1944. She graduated from St. Elizabeth School of Nursing in Yakima, Washington in 1948 and worked in Seattle, Fairbanks and Yakima. Sister Rita’s passion was caring for her patients, but at the request of her superiors she went back to school and achieved a master’s degree in nursing service administration from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Later Sister Rita was named administrator of St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, Oregon,where she spearheaded construction of the new, 451-bed St. Vincent Hospital and Medical Center. In 1971 she was named one of Oregon’s ten Women of Accomplishment. She left St. Vincent Hospital in Portland in 1972 and moved to Olympia, then to Seattle in 1977 as administrator of Mount St. Vincent Hospital. She returned to Portland in the mid 2000’s where she continues to work at Providence Portland Medical Center. She loves being in the outdoors, picking all kinds of berries and making jams and jellies. She also does needlepoint and tats!
Sister Rita has a lifetime love of the elderly, and although she was then in her late 80’s,visited my mother as a hospice volunteer twice a week for nearly three years. Sister Rita became both my both rock and inspiration and I missed her very much after Mom died. I knew that Sister Rita recorded magazine articles and books on tape for Sisters at the Saint Joseph Residence in Seattle who have lost their sight, so when I was asked for an audio copy of Unforgettable Journey: Tips to Survive Your Parent’s Alzheimer’s Disease, I asked Sister Rita if she would read the book aloud. Being back in touch with Sister Rita has been a huge blessing to me. She is an entirely remarkable woman!
I dedicate this audio recording of the second edition of Unforgettable Journey: Tips to Survive Your Parent’s Alzheimer’s Disease to Sister Rita Ferschweiler. Thank you, Sister Rita, for everything you’ve done for my mother and me!
Anne P. Hill