On the move: Mercy sister retires after 22 years at Ankeny parish
June 15, 2022
Mercy Sister Susan Widdel has a gift for being able to talk to just about anybody about just about anything.
And if the topic is the Chicago Cubs, all the better. She can talk baseball with the best of them.
Sister Susan is retiring from Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Parish after serving 22 of her 55 years in ministry in the Ankeny church.
She has provided pastoral outreach to the homebound and grieving, guided folks on their faith journey in the RCIA program, and provided counseling training with the founding of Stephen Ministry at the parish.
“People who were homebound loved to have her in their home. She could chat about anything,” said former pastor Monsignor Steve Orr. “The men particularly loved having her come during baseball season. She’s a fanatic Cubs person. She could talk baseball with someone, compare scores and talk about the players.”
Richard Jacavino was a volunteer on the parish’s RCIA team with Sister Susan.
“It was an honor and privilege to work with her,” he said. She would often meet with people outside of the RCIA meeting times if that worked better for their schedule, all for the purpose of bringing people closer to God.
She became a friend to many.
“I owe her a huge debt of gratitude,” Jacavino said. “She walked with me at some times when I didn’t know where I was going. As they say, she loved me until I could love myself.”
Friend Rosemary Hutchinson said it’s not unusual to be talking to Sister Susan and have many people passing by stop to say hello to her.
“She’s very easy to get to know and get to be friends with,” said Hutchinson. “I think a lot of people connected with her.”
In addition to homebound ministry and RCIA, Sister Susan was in on the ground floor of establishing Stephen Ministry, a ministry of the laity who accompany and pray with people who want to talk with someone.
The ministry needed someone who connects those who seek someone to speak with to someone who is trained to listen in a confidential way and pray with them, said Deacon Steve Udelhofen. That organizer for many years was Sister Susan.
“She could marry up a person with the appropriate caregiver,” he said.
Sister Susan, the oldest of 12 children grew up in Waterloo. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1967 in Cedar Rapids, making her perpetual profession in 1975.
All but three years of her ministry has been in Iowa, when she served for three years as a pastoral minister in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
In Iowa, Sister Susan taught in Cedar Rapids, Ames, Evansdale and Waterloo. In 1981, she became a pastoral minister, serving in Independence and Cedar Falls. In the Diocese of Des Moines, she served at Christ the King Parish from 1990 to 1997 and has been at OLIH since 2000.
“My time at OLIH has been a great experience,” she said. “The parishioners were very supportive in my ministry. I en-joyed journeying with the people in RCIA and watching them grow in their faith. It was a pleasure taking communion to the home bound and listening to their stories. I’m looking forward to continuing these relationships after I retire.”
Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Parish will celebrate Sister Susan’s retirement after Masses on June 18 and 19.