Winter 2011: Sr. Agnes Edward Boarman, SJW: 1913-2011
Sr. Agnes Edward was born in Tompkinsville, MD to Agnes and Edward Boarman on May 4th, 1913. She was christened Gertrude Thelma. Hearing the call of Our Lord at the age of 19, she entered the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nazareth, KY. She was given the name Sr. Agnes Edward, for her parents, when she received the habit on March 24th, 1933. She professed her first vows on March 25th, 1934, and her perpetual vows on March 25th, 1937.
Her apostolic work as a Sister of Charity of Nazareth took Sister as far away as Massachusetts. She taught primary grade school in Bridgeport, OH and Calvert City, KY. She directed and cared for orphaned children in Lowell, MA; Barton, OH; and Anchorage, KY. For nearly twenty years she served as a personnel director, first at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, KY and later at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville, KY. Following her last assignment at Our Lady of Peace, Sister went on to assist with the Mission work, and became the executive housekeeper at the SCN Motherhouse in Nazareth.
The early years after Vatican II were a time of great upheaval in the Church and in religious life especially. At this time, then-Sister Ellen Curran realized that her community was taking a direction that she could not, in conscience, follow. Sr. Agnes Edward was one of the 18 original Sisters of Charity of Nazareth that joined Mother Ellen to become the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker. After nearly thirty years as a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth, Sr. Agnes Edward took the leap of faith and, once again, left behind everything she knew to follow her beloved Spouse.
As a Sister of St. Joseph the Worker, Sr. Agnes Edward took care of domestic work at the Motherhouse in Walton, and also in Maysville, KY until that house was closed in the early 1990’s. Shortly thereafter, Sr. Agnes Edward retired to our nursing home, Taylor Manor and lived there for the next two decades. On July 26th, during our General Chapter, Our Lord beckoned again to Sr. Agnes Edward. That morning, surrounded by her community, she passed into eternity having been a professed religious for over seventy-seven years. May Christ who called her, lead her home. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat ei. Amen.
Her apostolic work as a Sister of Charity of Nazareth took Sister as far away as Massachusetts. She taught primary grade school in Bridgeport, OH and Calvert City, KY. She directed and cared for orphaned children in Lowell, MA; Barton, OH; and Anchorage, KY. For nearly twenty years she served as a personnel director, first at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, KY and later at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville, KY. Following her last assignment at Our Lady of Peace, Sister went on to assist with the Mission work, and became the executive housekeeper at the SCN Motherhouse in Nazareth.
The early years after Vatican II were a time of great upheaval in the Church and in religious life especially. At this time, then-Sister Ellen Curran realized that her community was taking a direction that she could not, in conscience, follow. Sr. Agnes Edward was one of the 18 original Sisters of Charity of Nazareth that joined Mother Ellen to become the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker. After nearly thirty years as a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth, Sr. Agnes Edward took the leap of faith and, once again, left behind everything she knew to follow her beloved Spouse. 
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