Gossens, Sister Fidelis b. 14 Dec 1904 De Pere, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 27 Sep 1993 Wheaton, Dupage, Illinois, USA: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

1904 - 1993 (88 years) Has 10 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

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Name	Gossens, Fidelis
Prefix	Sister
Born	14 Dec 1904	De Pere, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
Gender	Female
Died	27 Sep 1993	Wheaton, Dupage, Illinois, USA
Obituary	Aft 27 Sep 1993
Sister M Fidelis (Gertrude) Gossens of the Humility of Jesus, passed away Monday September 27, 1993 at the age of 88. She was the daugther of Mary (DeCleene) and Herman Gossens. Sister Fidelis was born on December 19, 1904 in DePere, Wisconsin. She later moved with her family to Kimberly, where, as a young woman she came in contact with the Franciscan Sisters at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton. After working in the Hospital there for some time she joined the community March 2, 1922, in St. Louis, missouri where she trained as a nurse at St. Anthony Hospital. Her first assignment was in the dietary department and this led to a BS in dietetics from Fontbonne College in St. Louis. From there she was sent for a Masters degree in public health at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where she saw the devastating lives of the inner-city poor. Back then there were no social agencies around to help. Sister Fidelis has lived a lifetime ahead of her times. Long before holistic medicine was valued by the medical establishment, Sister Fidelis was meeting the medical, psychological and spiritual needs of the poor in a Milwaukee clinic she founded in the 1930's. Sister Fedelis taught briefly at the Marquette University College of Nursing in Milwaukee before being called to St. Michael Hospital where she also served as director of nursing service and personnel. Then, in 1938 she became director of St. Michael Hospital Clinic. Those were the Depression years when so many people were out of work and had no place to go for healthcare for themselves and their families. So she began providing medical care to poor unwed mothers through the outpatient department. Services soon expanded to include low-income families in need of maternity services and a new clinic was born. It would add 25 services in years to come. A need that quickly became apparent to Sister was a alcoholic treatment program, one of the first hospital-based. Marriage and family life counseling were provided early on and later psychiatric and pyschological were added. In 1947 Sister was appointed administrator of St. Michael and local superior. Before she was able to complete her term, she was elected as Assistant Provincial Directress and moved to the Motherhouse in Wheaton. She served two terms as Assistant and then a six-year term as Provincial Directress. She was instrumental in founding the first foreign mission of the American Province in Santarem, Para, Brazil and later spent seven months there working in the clinic and watching the efforts of her vision become a reality. In 1968 Sister volunteered to serve at the Generalate in Rome and spent two years there. Upon returning she served as procurator for the Brazil mission until her retirement to quiet years of prayer and contemplation. She is surived by brothers Joseph (Marie) Gossens, Norbert Gossens, Rene (Norma) Gossens, sister Cecilia (Frank) Brooks and many nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by her parents, brother Arthur (Ole), (Kate) Gossens, sisters Sister (Catherine) Illumina Gossens and Agnes (Fred) Never.
Religious Vows	Sister Fidelis
Person ID	I49791	1FamilyTree
Last Modified	12 Oct 2015

Father	Gossens, Herman, b. 8 Apr 1876, De Pere, Brown, Wisconsin, USA , d. 21 Jul 1949, Kimberly, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA (Age 73 years)
Mother	DeCleene, Mary, b. 18 Apr 1876, d. 14 Apr 1948, Kimberly, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA (Age 71 years)
Family ID	F15790	Group Sheet \| Family Chart