Age 82
Virginia Baeder, answered the call to be a Sister of Mercy at the age of 18 and trusted in the goodness of the God to dedicate her life in service to God’s people.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. John’s University in Queens, New York, and a master’s degree in religious education from Fordham University in the Bronx. Initially she taught elementary school in the Brooklyn Diocese for 11 years before becoming the principal at Holy Trinity Elementary School in Whitestone, New York, for 12 years. Next, she was the director of religious education for 17 years at Immaculate Conception parish in Rockville Centre, New York.
After taking a sabbatical for one year, she found her passion as the archivist for the former Brooklyn Regional community. She immersed herself in the history of not only Brooklyn, but of the founding Sisters from Catherine McAuley on down through the ages. She took meticulous care to record the lives of the sisters as they passed from this life and preserved their history. For three of those years, she also ministered as the life and ministry facilitator for local sisters.
Virginia never faulted in her pursuit of holiness exhibited especially when illness became a part of her daily life. Despite her loss of partial vision, she labored on whatever task was set before her following her motto, “My eyes always on the Lord.”