Susan and Bill Cutler’s Mother Qualberta Service Award video
Watch their video below:
We were grateful for all of the Cutler family attending the dinner.
You can read the article about the Cutlers here.
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About Mother Qualberta & the Service Award
In 1910, Sister Mary Qualberta brought four sisters from Czechoslovakia to serve Czech immigrants and to establish the Notre Dame Sisters in the United States.
Their beginning was difficult due to the hardships of the new language and customs, different climate, and a lack of food and means of income. Sister Qualberta encouraged her sisters to persevere.
They began their ministry at the Hessoun Orphanage in Fenton, Mo., near St. Louis. A year later, more Sisters arrived from Czechoslovakia and Sr. Qualberta was appointed Reverend Mother. She soon had Sisters teaching in schools in Nebraska and Iowa. In 1917 Mother Qualberta sent two Sisters to Omaha to work with Father Edward Flanagan at his first Boys’ Home. In 1920 Omaha became the Provincial Headquarters for the Sisters.
After serving as Superior for 19 years, Mother Qualberta stepped down from her position. Even in her retirement, she continued to write letters of encouragement to the Sisters and develop educational instruments for teachers to use in classrooms.
In honor of their American Foundress, the Notre Dame Sisters established an award in her name. Each year the Sisters nominate a person or group who possesses the following qualities: witness to faith in God and love for people, service to others, a pioneering spirit, partnership with the Notre Dame Sisters, and excellence in teaching others.
Past Mother Qualberta Service Award Recipients
Kathy Schinker – 1994
Patricia Callone – 1995
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Fitzgibbons, Sr. – 1996
Most Reverend Daniel E. Sheehan – 1998
Emily Cunningham Kozlik – 1999
Tessie O. Edwards – 2000
Juana Espejo – 2001
Mary Jo Pedersen – 2002
M. Jane Huerter Weekly – 2003
Notre Dame Sisters of the
European Provinces – 2004
Dick & Renee O’Brien – 2005
Ada & Joe McDermott – 2006
Roland & Marta Nieves – 2007
Randal Korth – 2008
Knights of Columbus
Mary Our Queen Council #11700 – 2009
John Griffith – 2010
Sr. Marilyn Ross, RSM – 2011
Ann O’Connor – 2012
Robert Lanik – 2013
Sr. Maryanne Stevens, RSM, Ph.D. – 2014
Mike Saklar – 2015
Byron & Linda Stigge – 2016
Jo Williams – 2017
Nancy Bohnenkamp -2018
Julie Kaminski – 2019
Stephen Patrick O’Meara – 2020
Julie Bea and Dick Pieterson – 2021