Gorman RSM, Sister Veronica

Sister Veronica Gorman, RSM, 101, died Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids after a brief illness. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, by the Rev. Gerald Condon. Friends may call from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Chapel, with a wake service at 7 p.m. Arrangements are with Teahen Funeral Home.

Sister Veronica was born May 30, 1910, in Manchester, Iowa, the daughter of James and Jessie (Tyler) Gorman. She attended Our Lady of Victory Academy in Waterloo and graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Oelwein. She attended Mount Mercy Junior College in Cedar Rapids and entered the Sisters of Mercy Cedar Rapids Community on Feb. 2, 1931. She professed her final vows as a Sister of Mercy on June 21, 1936, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loras College in Dubuque.

Sister Veronica spent over 30 years as a teacher, serving at Immaculate Conception, St. Wenceslaus, St. Matthew, and Regis High School, all in Cedar Rapids; St. Patrick, Fairfax; St. Mary, New Haven; St. Patrick, Garryowen; Immaculate Conception, Charles City; Sacred Heart, Oelwein; St. Joseph, DeWitt; St. Benedict, Decorah; Sacred Heart, Waterloo; St. Nicholas, Evansdale, and St. Matthew in Kalispell, Mont.

After her ministry in teaching, Sister Veronica served as an Assistant Dean of Students at Mount Mercy College for 11 years. She also served as a receptionist at Mercy Hospital in Anamosa and Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, Mont. In 1983, she ministered at the Mercy Spirituality Center in Cedar Rapids until she retired in 1986.

During her retirement, Sister Veronica volunteered at Sacred Heart Convent and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. She moved to Mercy Hallmar Care Center in 2007 and last June celebrated 80 years as a Sister of Mercy.

Sister Veronica is survived by a sister, Mildred Lilly of Birmingham, Ala.; many nieces and nephews; and by the Sisters of Mercy.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Robert, George, William and James; and a sister, Sister Marceline Gorman RSM.

Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

Published in The Gazette Jan. 22, 2012