1919 – Sister Generose Gervais – 2016
Jeanne Rose Gervais was born to Philip F. and Elizabeth (Sandgathe) Gervais on September 18, 1919. She was one of seven children and grew up on the family farm near Currie, Minnesota. Following graduation from Immaculate Heart of Mary High School in Currie, she entered the Franciscan Sisters in 1938, receiving the name of Sister Generose. Sister Generose began her ministry as an elementary teacher. She went on for further study and graduated in 1945 with a BS in Home Economics Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. She did her internship in dietetics at Saint Marys Hospital where she received a Diploma in Dietetics in 1948. From 1948 to 1951 Sister Generose served as Co-Director and Instructor of the School of Practical Nursing and Administrative Dietician at Saint Marys. Beginning in 1951, she served as Administrative Assistant at Saint Marys and was a post-Graduate Student at the University of Minnesota where she received a Masters in Hospital Administration in 1954. She continued to serve as an Assistant Administrator and Associate Administrator of Saint Marys until 1971 when she was named Hospital Administrator. Sister Generose served in this capacity for ten years, 1971-1981, and then as Executive Director from 1981-1985 after which she served as Hospital Consultant. She served as President of the Poverello Foundation since its inception in 1984. During her years of ministry, she also served as Consulting Dietitian at Mercy Hospital 1950-1951, Portsmouth, OH, and as Consultant in Dietetics and Hospital Administration at San Ignacio Hospital, Bogotá, Colombia in 1966.
Her service on boards, both as a member and as an officer, spanned over 30 years and included more than 20 organizations. Some of the prominent ones include the Board of Trustees, St. Marys Hospital, Rochester; Catholic Health Association, St. Louis, MO; Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce; First National Bank, Rochester; Federal Reserve Bank, Minneapolis; St. Francis Medical Center, LaCrosse, WI; Regina Medical Center, Hastings, MN; Madonna Towers, Rochester; Olmsted County Historical Society; Senior Citizens Center Board of Directors, Rochester; Winona State University Board of Advisors; Finance Council and Foundation Board of the Diocese of Winona; Caledonia Health Care, Inc Board; Southeastern Minnesota Health Council Board; United Way of Olmsted County and Minnesota Conference of Catholic Health Care Facilities Board.
Sister Generose has also been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, the most significant of which is the naming of the Sister Generose Gervais Building, Saint Marys Hospital (1991). Other awards include University of Wisconsin-Stout Alumni Distinguished Service Award (1978); Teresa of Avila Award, College of St. Teresa, Winona (1980); University of Minnesota Alumni Association (Rochester Chapter) Outstanding Achievement Award (1981); Rochester Woman of Achievement Award, 1985; the Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice Medal (1985); Mayor’s Medal of Honor, Rochester; Service to Mankind Award, Rochester Sertoma Club, 1987; Catholic Health Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011. In 1988 she became a Lady in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. Sister Generose Gervais, 97, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, MN, and former administrator of Saint Marys Hospital died at Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys Campus on Friday, October 7, 2016.
Sister Generose is survived by her Franciscan Sisters with whom she shared life for 78 years. Also surviving are her sisters: Marian Manis, Woodland Hills, CA, Elizabeth Connors, Rochester, MN, and Glenna (Francis) Boyle, Springfield, MN and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers: Vincent and Hugh and a sister Julienne Mulligan.
A Funeral Liturgy will be held on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at 11:00 o’clock in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, Assisi Heights, Rochester, MN. Friends may call at Assisi Heights for visitation from 9:00 a.m. through the Vigil Service at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 17 and before the time of the funeral on Tuesday. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery, Rochester. Memorials are suggested to the Poverello Foundation 200 1st St. S.W. Rochester, MN 55905.
