Misericordia family mourns loss of founder Sister Rosemary Connelly

CHICAGO (WGN) — Sister Rosemary Connelly of Misericordia Heart of Mercy passed away Thursday at the age of 94.

Connelly, known for the one-of-a-kind community that builds a home for those with intellectual and physical disabilities, was described as a champion for residents, families and staff.

“We told the residents today and it’s very hard,” Father Jack Clair, Misericordia’s president and executive director, said Friday. “For some of them she’s been their mother. They came to us as babies and she was the mother who took care of them all these years.”

Connelly stepped onto the property in 1969 when it was just one building that housed 700 orphaned babies in Brighton Park.

“She was in her 30’s, a young sister, and entered a home that was filled with children with disabilities and at the time there was nothing for them; schools wouldn’t take them, laws hadn’t been passed to welcoming them into the school district,” Clair explained.

The visionary nun set out to change that through faith and grit, many times not taking ‘no’ for an answer.

“If she thought it was really the right thing to do she’d fight tooth and nail to get it done,” Clari said. “She was clever and she could get it done. She wasn’t afraid to speak up and to challenge people to try to do the best they could do.”

In an interview with WGN in 2009, Connelly spoke of the love she had for Misericordia residents.

“They’re beautiful people, and they really know how to accept life and God’s terms. They’re witness to the fact that we all have to live with mystery,” she said at the time.

Connelly lead the campus’ 1976 move to its current location, a 31-acre property in West Ridge that now serves more than 600 children and adults with mild to profound developmental disabilities.

She took a step back from her role in recent years but maintained high standard for the site.

“Those of us who are in management here, she said she’s going to come back and haunt us if the product ever gets bad or if the care is not good,” Clair said. “To her, the most important thing was how well we cared for the residents. So if we’re doing that and we’re doing it right then she’ll be happy.”

A wake is scheduled for Monday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on campus. The cardinal will host a funeral mass Tuesday morning in the cathedral at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers Misericordia asks mourners to consider a donation to the Misericordia Foundation c/o the Sister Rosemary Connelly Fund.