Sister Eleanor Gilmore, 1932 - 2014

Our beloved founder, Sister Eleanor Gilmore, died Saturday, July 12th after suffering a massive stroke. Here is some information about her amazing life of service with PeaceHealth, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and the people of El Salvador:

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 14^th 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.

Tumultuous Times

This past month has been absolutely wonderful and - at the same time - somewhat terrible. 

Wonderful: I spent an amazing four days seeing the best of Ireland with Sr. Andrea Nenzel.  Our hosts, Joy and Michael Moore, turned themselves inside out for us, and shared their family stories and histories as well as the sights with us. 

And wonderful: Ireland was followed by our Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Contemplative Retreat in Loughborough, England - the last of the three Contemplative Retreats, and an amazing experience of gathering ourselves as a community to take what our facilitator, Sr. Nancy Sylvester, calls "a long, loving look at the real.-

And wonderful: I got to spend time at St. Mary-on-the Lake in Bellevue on either end of those travels - time to visit with the Sisters and with my sister, time to pack up for my July move to a community house in Seattle.

And wonderful: while all this was going on, Darren had located the perfect base house in San Salvador, with plenty of space for all our tubs and equipment, and even for a few guests.

And wonderful: Darren flew north for meetings with PeaceHealth and we had an excellent meeting with our El Salvador Advisory Group, got many details straightened out, and continued what's been a great experience of transitioning from me to Darren as our in-country Coordinator.

But somewhat terrible: I came back to the northwest in early May barely breathing.  Seemed that my bronchial stent had become completely plugged.  Fixing that required two rigid bronchoscopies (full anesthesia), the first followed by a night in the hospital.  Breathing got better, then worse again, and not long after my return from England I ended up in another hospital with a pneumonia diagnosis. 

Now, thanks be to God, things seem to be mending.  I'm breathing well, I'm headed back to El Salvador on the red-eye tonight.  For the next four weeks, we'll be busy moving to the new San Salvador house - and I'll be connecting with as many friends as possible.  It's another whirlwind, and there's even a few days in Cartagena, Colombia tucked into the mix (a visit with my niece Carol and her husband Gus Aponte)....  It should be wonderful, but I imagine quite a few tears may also be shed.

-  Susan

Welcome

Welcome to PazSalud in El Salvador, our new blog for PeaceHealth's El Salvador Health Mission!  We'll be posting about life and work and mission in El Salvador as we carry the Health Mission forward.

PeaceHealth and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace have been connected to El Salvador since 1985, when Sisters Andrea Nenzel and Margaret Jane Kling accompanied refugees, providing an international presence in the Calle Real Refugee Camp.  In the late 1980s Sisters Eleanor Gilmore and Margaret Byrne worked with Jesuit Refugee Services to help wounded civilians get health care. 

The El Salvador Health Mission began in 2000, when Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Eleanor Gilmore and Grace Didomenicantonio moved to San Salvador to coordinate the work of volunteers from PeaceHealth.  The mission's first volunteers helped with emergency medical assistance following the devasting earthquakes of 2001. 

As the Health Mission in El Salvador evolved, PazSalud began to offer regular opportunities for PeaceHealth staff and Sisters to participate in general medical missions, eye screenings, and eye surgeries.  Our assistance to the communities we serve has expanded to include followup for special cases, a water filter program and community education.

And we continue to evolve with Kathy Garcia, PeaceHealth's Director of International Missions, with Darren Streff, PazSalud's new In-Country Coordinator, and with Sister Susan Dewitt, Communications Assistant.