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SSMO VOCATIONS
Sister Anna Evers
I am a person who finds it hard to wait, especially when I haven’t anything to do while I am waiting. This fact came to light early Easter morning, April 20, 1919, when I was in such a hurry to be born that I didn’t wait for the doctor to come to our farmhouse, and as a result, my father played doctor. I was the third child, having an older brother and sister. We lived in a small Dutch community called Verboort (Oregon).
During the next sixteen years my parents added six more children to the family, three boys and three girls. We had plenty of trying situations as we grew up, but to balance it there was love of each other and parental example of strong Catholicism, devotion to the rosary and involvement in parish activities. We found recreation in simple, everyday things. We caught crawfish in Dairy Creek and came home to cook and feast on them.
As I reminisce, I see the orphan lambs that we fed by a bottle and standing by my dad as he cut the fleece or skin off a dead lamb and then sewing it on a healthy lamb. The ewe, who just lost her lamb, would not accept another which was left an orphan. But after the transfer of skin, the ewe welcomed and adopted the lamb and in about three days the skin was removed.
 I attended Visitation Catholic School in Verboort which was staffed by the Sisters of St. Mary. When I was in the seventh and eighth grades, I knew for sure that I was going to be a Sister when I grew up. I am amused now to think that I was so sure of my future as such a young age. I attended high school in Forest Grove and for some unknown reason the thought of entering the convent was put on the back burner for about two years.
After my sophomore year I was admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital for surgery. Monsignor Smith, the chaplain, visited me often and, although he was a stranger to me, reminded me daily that I should be a Sister.
In 1940 I received my father’s blessing and was permitted to enter the community of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. My parents had always encouraged this step. They have been happy years. It is impossible to select a specific incident that was happier than another. My many years as a primary teacher has given me joy that I cannot describe. To see a child’s face light up having discovered the meaning of numbers or when another had successfully completed a reader or when a former student comes up to me and introduces her children too “my first grade teacher”– it is all a thrill!
 The love and care that I receive here at St. Mary’s is overwhelming and I feel that it is my responsibility to give it to others. Our Lord said, “Whatever you do to others you do to me.” That is important to remember in our daily lives whether we are married, single, priest, brother or sister.
If you would like to contact me, I would be happy to talk with you about my life as a Sister of St. Mary of Oregon. Phone: 503-644-9181. Address: 4440 SW 148 th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97007. God bless you.
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