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.

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