Sister Mary Shimo, CBS, at Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital
Sr. Mary Shimo speaks of the wonderful opportunities she has had as a Sister of Bon Secours, both in terms of the education she has gotten and the experiences she has had.
“No one could have anticipated all the things I have done from nursing to being a chaplain to running a hospital gift shop for six years. It has been a journey of surprises with so many places and directions I never would have thought to go,” says Sr. Mary.
For the past 12 years, she has coordinated the volunteers-student programs at Bon Secours Baltimore Health System. This involves overseeing the volunteer program and the affiliations with area schools as part of the hospital’s student clinical internship program. “One of the things I really like about working in a hospital is that I still have the opportunity to use my chaplaincy skills in many ways,” she says.
Sr. Mary Shimo entered the Congregation of Bon Secours in 1962 and professed her final vows in 1971. She received her bacherlor’s degree in nursing science from the University of Maryland and her Master of Arts in religion and medical care from George Washington University. She has also taken many courses in theology, parish ministry and pastoral care.
She started her nursing career at Bon Secours Hospital on the rehabilitation unit, where she ministered for five years. Following her nursing career, Sr. Mary became a chaplain and, in 1977, became a pastoral associate at St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond. In 1983, she returned to Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore as director of pastoral care. From 1990-2000, she served as director of pastoral care at Carroll County General Hospital in Maryland, returning to Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore in 2000 as volunteer coordinator.
Sister Mary Shimo, CBS
An active member of the Congregation, Sr. Mary has chaired the Sisters of Bon Secours Jubilee Committee, and has served two terms on the Sisters of Bon Secours’ United States Leadership Team. She has been chair, co-chair and a member of many committees and is now a member of the United States Finance Committee. She also served as president of the Washington Village Community Medical Center board in Baltimore from 1983-92. Sr. Mary is known as the “keeper of the archives,” and has built and maintained a wonderful history of the Congregation that is housed in Marriottsville. She is currently on the Bon Secours Baltimore Health System board anc the national Bon Secours Health System board of directors.
In 2009, Sr. Mary Shimo was named secretary to the Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris and has traveled with the Congregation Leadership Team to meetings in Peru, France, and Ireland to take minutes. “This is a wonderful opportunity to get to see Bon Secours in all the ways it is expressed and experienced in other cultures,” says Sr. Mary.
Sister Mary Shimo, CBS at a Baltimore Ravens NFL football game in 2009.
You also might find Sr. Mary at an Orioles’ baseball game or cheering for the Ravens during their seasons. Her annual Super Bowl parties have become a tradition with her Bon Secours sisters. Kitting baby afghans, which she sells to benefit the Baltimore ministries, and lap covers for patinets also keeps her fingers busy. She has a wonderful sense of humor that is often seen in her emails and in her pleasant disposition.
Tags: bon secours, catholic healthcare, catholic nun, catholic sister, jubilee, life as a nun, nursing
