Sister Charlene Schaaf entered religious life from St. Luke parish in Erie, Pa. She served as an elementary music teacher in various parochial schools and as a pastoral associate and liturgy/music minister in parishes of the Pittsburgh Diocese.
She was the chaplain/spiritual services director at St. Francis Nursing Home in Colorado Springs, Co. (1996-99), staff chaplain at St. Anthony Central Hospital (2000-05), per diem chaplain at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Co. (2006-10), a spiritual director in Denver, Co. (2005-10), and director of music and liturgy at St. Louis Parish in Louisville, Co. (2008-10). Since 2010, Sister Charlene has been a music teacher at Neighborhood Art House in Erie, Pa., the choir director at St. Lawrence Parish in Albion, Pa., and a substitute music teacher at Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie.
In 2013, Sister Charlene marked her thirteenth year of walking in the American Heart Walk, a cause dear to her heart because she lost her maternal grandmother and dad to heart disease. She also walks for the Sisters who have lived with and died from heart disease.
Sister Charlene often plays guitar and other instruments at the Sisters’ Annual Assembly and other special liturgical events.