Sisters hand out awards at annual dinner

More than 270 donors joined the Sisters of Providence for a dinner and award presentation during the annual Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Dinner at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on June 4.

The dinner takes place annually to honor donors for their gifts of time, talent and resources, while also presenting the Queen Amelia, Sarah and Joseph Thralls, and the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Companions awards.

The Queen Amelia Award honors those who have significantly contributed financially to the Congregation and who have been influential in informing others of its life and mission. The award is named for Queen Amelia of France, wife of King Louis Philippe, who was a major donor for the Congregation in the mid-1800s. She also encouraged her husband and family to contribute to the Congregation, which at the time, was struggling financially.

This year, the sisters recognized David and Julia Fuhs, of Jasper, Ind., for the Queen Amelia award. David and Julia have been generous contributors for many years. David has served on the Sisters of Providence Mission Advisory Board for eight years and has been chairperson since 2011.

The Sarah and Joseph Thralls Award honors individuals, a family or a group that has made significant contributions of time, talent and resources to the Congregation. It is named in honor of the family that offered hospitality by way of a cabin in a dense forest to Mother Theodore and her five companions after they arrived at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1840 and continued to assist them as they adjusted to pioneer life in Indiana.

This year, the Sisters recognized Sheila Donis for the Sarah and Joseph Thralls award. Sheila – a native of Jasonville – has volunteered with the senior Sisters of Providence on a monthly basis, sharing her time and talents on many occasions in many locations.

The Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Companions Award was established in honor of Sisters St. Vincent Ferrer, Basilide Seneschal, Olympiade Boyer, Mary Xavier Leree and Mary Liguori Tiercin, the five sister companions who supported Mother Theodore and remained by her side assisting her as needed while offering their own wisdom and perseverance to advance the mission.

This year, the Sisters of Providence awarded the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Companion awards to Michael Cassell, from Decatur, Ill., Frances Ginther, from Gary, Ind., Johanna Henry, from Indianapolis, Marilyn and Chuck Neuman, from Arlington Heights, Ill., and Dr. Karla Zody, from West Terre Haute.