SISTER BERNADINE LAUER, SC (formerly Sister Marie Bernard), age 90, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg on August 16, 2015.
Born in Heilwood, PA, Sister Bernadine entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on January 1, 1948, from Holy Name Parish in Ebensburg, PA. Sister was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas H. and Grace M. (Dumm) Lauer; four brothers, Elmer, Paul, Donald and Ralph Lauer, three sisters, Rita Guienot, Mary Morris and Helen Gillin; a maternal first cousin, Sister Mary James Dumm, SC, a paternal second cousin, Sister Sara Ann Lauer, SC, and cousin Father Demitrius Dumm, OSB. She is survived by a sister, Jane Mills, and nieces and nephews. She earned a diploma as a registered nurse from Pittsburgh Hospital and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Duquesne University. She began her nursing ministry at Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hospital as supervisor of the nursery and was subsequently missioned to minister at Pittsburgh and Providence Hospitals as operating room supervisor. She served at Veterans Hospital for a year, 1978-1979. Her longest tenure of service was at Jeannette District Memorial Hospital, where she ministered as night supervisor from 1979 until her retirement in 1994. After her retirement, she continued to volunteer her services at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital at Jeannette as chapel sacristan until 2010. On April 20, 2009, Sister Bernadine received a Lifetime Achievement Award for 1000 hours of volunteer service in one year, 2009. In accepting the award, Sister Bernadine stated: “I really didn’t count the hours; I just wanted to make a difference at Jeannette Hospital when the name changed.” Capable and organized, Sister Bernadine once reflected on her life as a Sister of Charity, “During my life, I have experienced the gift of friendship of many women of my community who supported me in sickness and health. All my nursing assignments were enjoyable and I can truly say that I saw God in the people I worked with in the hospitals.”
