Sister Eleanor Gilmore, (Sister
Estelle), a woman whose life was marked by peace, courage and a joyful spirit, died July 12, 2014 in Bellevue,
Washington. A Sister of St. Joseph of
Peace, Sister Eleanor served in leadership for her community and with PeaceHealth;
she ministered to the people of El Salvador during the Civil War of the late
1980s and later returned to found PazSalud, the El Salvador Health Care Mission
of PeaceHealth and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.
Eleanor Catherine Gilmore was born
in Seattle in 1932, the only child of Michael and Anne Gilmore. She described her vocation as a Sister of St.
Joseph of Peace as a “mysterious gift of joy” that interrupted her plans to
marry a young man she’d met in England.
She entered the community in 1955, earned a B.A. in Seattle University, trained
as a nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital, Eugene, Oregon, and earned a Masters in
Hospital Administration from St. Louis University.
Sister Eleanor served as
Administrator at St. John’s PeaceHealth Hospital in Longview, Washington and as
operating room supervisor at Sacred Heart PeaceHealth Hospital, Eugene, Oregon;
she was elected as Councilor for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Generalate in
1970 and as Province Leader for the Western Region in 1982, leading the community through years of great change
in religious life.
Eleanor’s life changed
dramatically when she decided to work in El Salvador in 1988, during the final
years of the Salvadoran Civil War. With
Jesuit Refugee Services, she organized a sanctuary in San Salvador for country
people needing to come to the capitol for health care. Twice arrested during that time when
religious workers were often threatened or deported, Eleanor still returned to
work with the people she had come to love.
Later, as Vice President for Mission at PeaceHealth, she organized PazSalud,
bringing medical teams to serve poor
rural communities in El Salvador. She
led that mission from 2001-2009.
Since returning from El
Salvador, Sister Eleanor has lived at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, Bellevue, WA,
playing an active role in the life of the community, serving on PeaceHealth and
Mercy Housing Boards, and delighting in travel to visit friends and family. She
will be deeply missed by her family, community, PeaceHealth co-workers and many
friends in El Salvador and around the world.
The Vigil Service will be on Wednesday, July 16, 7:00 p.m.
at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, 1663 Killarney Way, Bellevue, WA. The Mass of Christian Burial will be at Sacred
Heart Church, 9460 NE 14th St., Bellevue, on Thursday, July 17 at
10:30 a.m. Burial will be at 2 p.m. at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Sisters of
St. Joseph of Peace Retirement Fund or to the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Peace for Paz Salud, the El Salvador Health Mission founded by Sister
Eleanor, P.O. Box 248, Bellevue, WA 98009.
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