Five Sisters of Mount Carmel to celebrate jubilees

Five sisters of Mount Carmel will be honored in celebration of the anniversary of their religious professions on Nov. 16 with Mass and reception at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Lafayette. Father Hampton Davis will celebrate the Mass.

The jubilarians are Sister Frances Therese Meyers and Sister Judith Hebert (70 years); Sister Valerie Gros and Sister Camille Anne Campbell (60 years); and Sister Libby Dahlstrom (50 years).

Sister Frances Therese entered the Sisters of Mount Carmel in 1946 and made her first profession in 1949. She taught at Mount Carmel schools in Thibodaux, Rayne, Abbeville; at St. Augustine and St. James Major in New Orleans; at E.D. White Catholic High School in Thibodaux; and at Notre Dame High School in Crowley. She was principal in Thibodaux, assistant principal at Mount Carmel Academy and assistant librarian at Xavier Prep. She was elected general councilor in 1977 and appointed secretary general of the congregation in 1979. From 1982-2005, she was manager of the Mount Carmel Altar Bread Department at the motherhouse. She retired in 2009 and is residing at Lafon Nursing Home in New Orleans.

Sister Judith, a native of Abbeville, entered religious life in 1946 and professed first vows in 1949. She has ministered as an educator at St. Joseph the Worker in Marrero, Mount Carmel in Thibodaux and Mount Carmel in Lafayette (now Cathedral-Carmel Elementary), serving as principal there from 1968-78. From 1978-2017 at Mount Carmel Elementary in Abbeville, she was a classroom teacher, religion coordinator and prayer moderator. She is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion at East Ridge Assisted Living Center and a member of St. Mary Magdalen Church Choir in Abbeville.

Sister Valerie, a native of Thibodaux entered religious life in 1956 and pronounced first vows in 1959. In Louisiana, she has taught at schools in Abbeville, New Orleans and Rayne, and she has taught in Granada Hills, California, and in the Philippines. For more than 20 years, Sister Valerie was an itinerant minister through the Well Community in New Orleans. She is retired and resides in Lafon Nursing Home in New Orleans.

Sister Camille Anne, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, entered religious life in 1956 and pronounced first vows in 1959. Devoting more than 60 years to education, she taught at St. Dominic School from 1958-59. Beginning in 1962, she has served as teacher of religion and mathematics at Mount Carmel Academy, New Orleans, and Vermilion Catholic High School in Abbeville, where she also served as assistant principal and guidance counselor. From 1980-92, Sister Camille Anne served as principal of Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans. From 1992-2014, she served as president and principal. In 2005 she was responsible for the planning and rebuilding of the school after Hurricane Katrina inundated the school buildings with more than 10 feet of liquid waste. Since 2014, upon the appointment of a lay principal, Sister Camille Anne has continued to serve as president. She has received the NCEA’s Outstanding Catholic Educator award, the AdvancED Excellence in Education Award, New Orleans Magazine Top Female Achiever Award and was a New Orleans Woman of the Year Nominee. She served in leadership positions for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and AdvancedED.

Sister Libby, a native of New Iberia, entered religious life in 1966 and pronounced first vows in 1969. She taught at St. Joseph in Thibodaux, St. Michael Special School and St. Dominic in New Orleans; and Rayne Catholic Elementary, where she served as teacher, religion coordinator and assistant principal. She also taught at Mount Carmel Elementary in Abbeville, serving as religion coordinator. She was involved in pastoral ministry in Tennessee. Since 1998, Sister Libby has lived in Illinois and served as associate provincial delegate to Lay Carmelites for the Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.