Sister Stephanie Turck, formerly Sister Martha, was born in 1947 in Granite City, Ill., and entered the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1963. She professed her final vows in 1971, and earned a bachelor of art in English in 1975 and a master’s degree in communication disorders in 1981 from Fontbonne College. She also earned a master’s degree in health administration in 1997 and a master’s degree in health care ethics in 2000 from Saint Louis University.
Sister Stephanie’s teaching ministry included the following schools: St. Andrew School (Tipton, Mo., 1966–68), St. John School (Imperial, Mo., 1969–70), Divine Providence School (Westchester, Ill., 1971–72), St. Mary’s School (Brussels, Ill., 1972–73), and Mount Providence School (Normandy, Mo., 1975–81).
From 1981–97, Sister Stephanie worked as a licensed speech pathologist, and from 2000–01, as an ethics committee chair at St. Elizabeth Medical Center (now Gateway Regional Medical Center) in Granite City, Ill. She was an office manager at United Congregations of Metro East in Madison, Ill. in 2002. She returned to Gateway Regional Medical Center as medical staff director from 2002–04. Sister Stephanie was a pastoral associate and development director at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church from 2004–05 and a pastoral associate for Tri-City Catholic Ministry from 2006–07.
From 2008–12, she served as the volunteer coordinator for Room at the Inn, a homeless shelter in St. Louis County, Mo. Sister Stephanie currently serves as volunteer coordinator at House of Hope in Cottage Hills, Ill. Her hobbies include photography, sewing, and needlework.
Sister Stephanie was most influenced to enter religious life by the Dominican Sisters at Sacred Heart in Granite City, Ill. “Sister Renee Lawless, OP, was young, vibrant, and talented. It was evident she loved her vocation and teaching ministry. She loved all her students and would do whatever it took for us to learn. She was always there for us, and we knew it. I wanted to be just like her,” says Sister Stephanie.