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From Small Town to International Spiritual Leader: An unexpected life journey

Tribute to Sister Karin Dufault, S.P., during the celebration of her 60th anniversary of religious life by Providence Health & Services in the United States.

No one expected the athletic schoolgirl from Yakima, Washington, to become an international leader — especially not after she took vows as a Catholic sister. And yet, 60 years later, Sister Karin Dufault now leads the worldwide Sisters of Providence community as congregational leader from the organization’s International Center in Montreal, Quebec. And, she believes this is where God, through the voice of her sisters, has called her to be.

Growing up in a thriving agricultural community, Karin and her brother, Donald, were surrounded by attentive grandmothers, aunts and uncles. Karin reflects that she was probably hyperactive as a child, constantly on the go and involved in numerous groups at church and school. Swimming was a favorite summer activity. Luckily the community pool was only two blocks from the Dufaults’ home.

“My dad had a frightening experience when he was young because he couldn’t swim, so he made sure my brother and I had swimming lessons. I learned to swim by the time I was 3 years old. I loved it! I joined the city swim team and competed against other teams in the region. I also taught swimming lessons to others. It was a great experience.”

Raised in a solid Catholic family in a primarily Catholic neighborhood, Karin and Donald attended local Jesuit Parish (Providence-taught) elementary and Providence and Jesuit high schools. “The family was fully involved in the church community. Dad sang in the church choir; mom was an active member of the altar society. The whole family met mid-week with neighbors to pray together”.

“Our families held a weekly block rosary,” Sister Karin recalls. “We would gather at the home of a different family every week. A member of the host family — sometimes a child — would lead us. We would pray for local and world needs. Those prayers highlighted civic concerns and taught us the importance of caring for people beyond our immediate families and our local community.”

Despite the importance the church played in the Dufault home, no one entertained the idea of Karin entering religious life. In fact, her father was not pleased when, in her senior year of high school, Karin told her parents she was considering a life of spiritual service as a sister. “Dad was convinced that I was making a mistake. He believed my potential would be diminished. And he didn’t care for the idea that I would not be bearing his grandchildren at some point.”

Instead of enrolling in Gonzaga University as a college freshman that fall, Karin moved to Mount St. Vincent in Seattle and started classes as a Sisters of Providence postulant with professors coming from Seattle University. “Even though Dad was disappointed in my choice, he, Mom, Don and my grandmas faithfully came to visit me every month on Visiting Sunday. In time, he became a very strong supporter of my choice, and he reaffirmed me when I went through a dark time.” Her parents inevitably “adopted” all of Karin’s new sisters and friends, and they spent many happy hours, traveling and enjoying close friendships together.

Karin professed her first vows in 1962 at Providence Heights in Issaquah, Washington, after two years of novitiate, and she continued her classes in the School of Sister Formation. With some experience teaching swimming and religious education classes during high school, she expected to be prepared as a teacher. However, she had an aptitude for science classes and enjoyed a one-month experience at St. Vincent Hospital in Portland. There she shadowed one  of the nursing supervisors, Sister Mary Carmelita (Mary Ann Boschler, SP) and counseled with the director of nursing, Sister Mary Laureen (Rita Ferschweiler, SP). She observed how carefully the sisters ministered to the sick and gave attention to those in need. “l saw that being a sister-nurse was something very special,” says Sister Karin. “Sisters Mary Laureen and Carmelita gravitated to those in special need. They cared for the patients and also for the family members and staff.”

Back at the College of Sister Formation, Karin expressed a desire to add studies for becoming a sister-nurse. She earned her nursing degree from Seattle University in 1966 and returned to St. Vincent for a one-year internship in nursing. There she completed rotations in the cardiac care, medicine, infusion and respiratory therapy units as well as in nursing education. She became the assistant head nurse and soon thereafter the head nurse of a busy medical unit. That role gave her the opportunity to participate in planning for and assisting with the grand move of St. Vincent from its location on Westover Street in central Portland to its present site on Barnes Road in west Portland.

In 1968, she pronounced her final vows, committing her life to God as a Sister of Providence and, in the footsteps of the Sisters of Providence foundress Blessed Emilie Gamelin, to the poor and vulnerable.

Oh, the places you’ll go…

For Sister Karin, each new assignment came as an unexpected surprise. “Never as a young novice did I anticipate being asked to go to grad school and certainly not in Cleveland,” says Sister Karin. The young nurse soon earned a master’s degree in medical/surgical nursing with specialization in oncology.

“l never expected to become a clinical nurse specialist in oncology and gerontology, and I definitely never expected to get a doctorate from Case Western Reserve!” But that is exactly what she did, earning a Ph.D. with a focus on gerontology. She also found her life greatly enriched and her world expanded by the friends and faculty who entered her life during her years in Cleveland.

With her newly minted doctoral degree. Sister Karin returned to Portland, this time to Providence Portland Medical Center. Administrator John Lee soon asked her to take on more responsibilities. “l never aspired to be a nurse administrator. It was a complete surprise when John asked me to be the assistant administrator of Patient Care Services and develop an oncology and gerontology service line, building on existing services such as hospice and other programs”.

“It was another big surprise, when I was asked to return to Yakima to serve as administrator of St. Elizabeth Hospital. Who would have thought I would someday be back in my hometown with my parents, my family and my classmates, serving as the administrator of our local hospital?”

And then came more surprises. In late 1991, after leading the hospital in Yakima for 41/2 years, Sister Karin was appointed to serve as full-time chair for the board of directors for Providence Health System. Not only did she hold this position until 2002, but she simultaneously served as acting president and CEO for the health system from 1996-1997. In 2002, Sister Karin shifted her efforts and served for three years as vice-president of Mission Leadership for Providence Health System.

She wasn’t done moving yet. In 2005, her calling took her back to Portland, where she spent five year as executive director of the Supportive Care Coalition. The coalition is sponsored by 21 Catholic health organizations to provide education, resources and advocacy for people who have life-threatening illness.

Then back to Seattle she went. In January 2010, Sister Karin stepped up as provincial superior of Mother Joseph Province, leading the Sisters of Providence in the western United States.

“l expected to be involved in the health care field until I retired, but in November 2012, I was called away to Montreal to be the congregational leader for Sisters of Providence,” says Sister Karin.

As congregational leader, she now collaborates with a five-member council known as the General Leadership Team. Sister Karin’s primary interest is the lives and ministries of Providence Sisters and Associates around the world. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, she spends a significant portion of her days in Zoom meetings and on conference calls talking with sisters and lay leaders in Philippines, Chile, El Salvador, Haiti, Egypt, the United States and Canada. She speaks French and is studying both French and Spanish so she can communicate more effectively without a translator.

Sister Karin’s term of service concludes in November 2022. She explains that sisters don’t really retire. They always find some way to be of service, but what way that will be for Karin remains a mystery. Throughout her 60 years as a Sister of Providence, Sister Karin has relished each assignment. “Every task has been a surprise and has brought new blessings. I have been taken from one treasured situation to another, and the Providence of God has been in each situation,” she remarks.

Through all her moves and changing roles, Sister Karin has remained grounded in ordinary life and refreshed by the bonds of family and friends. Although the coronavirus curtailed her travel plans this year, she typically makes yearly trips to the Northwest for meetings. When she can, she takes advantage of the proximity to visit her brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews and their families, plus cousins and godchildren.

If Mr. Dufault could have seen in the late 1950s how Karin’s choice to join religious life would not exclude her family or hinder her potential, he would not have worried. As a Sister of Providence, Sister Karin’s life as an educated woman and a leader has certainly been honored, encouraged and fulfilled.