7/5/07
year:
2007
Aston, PA—Sister Joan Dreisbach (formerly Sister Henry Kathryn), OSF, was recently awarded the Nostrum Ecclesiam Tempus Award (Our Time to Be Church) by the Diocese of Trenton. The award was inaugurated by Bishop John M. Smith to mark his tenth anniversary as Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. Bishop Smith sees the award as a way of celebrating the women and men who have participated in an extraordinary way in the mission of the Church. The awards were presented on July 1 during a special Evening Prayer service at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.
Sister Joan was born in Allentown and was a member of St. Francis Parish. She graduated from Allentown Central Catholic High School prior to her entrance into the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in 1947. She currently ministers as a pastoral associate at St. Leo the Great Parish in Lincroft, New Jersey, a position she has held since 1991. Reverend Leonard Lang, Pastor of St. Leo Parish, nominated Sister Joan for the award. In addition to her many regular duties at St. Leo’s, Sister Joan organized two groups of parishioners who traveled to New Orleans during the past year as part of the Helping Hands Project (New Orleans Catholic Charities). She traveled with the first volunteer team to help to clear and/or gut homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Sister Joan’s years in ministry provide a life-long example of “being Church.” Although she began her years of service to the Church in elementary education, most of her ministry has been in healthcare. She served for many years at St. Joseph Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Between 1957 and 1970 she worked there in several capacities—as nurse, as nursing instructor, and, from 1962-1970 as Director of the School of Nursing. She returned to St. Joseph Hospital as president from 1976-1984.
Sister Joan’s ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia included teaching at Resurrection School in Chester and at St. Alphonsus School in Philadelphia. She worked at St. Mary Hospital and from 1985-1991, served as administrator at Villa St. John Vianney in Downingtown.
