Thirty-nine women from 20 parishes were presented St. Mother Teresa Recognition Awards for charity, compassion and service by the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) on Sunday, Aug. 18 at Columbus St. Agatha Church.
Sponsored by the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference and the Daughters of Isabella, the award recognizes women who are living their lives in the spirit of St. Mother Teresa and are strong in their Catholic faith, engaged and involved in their parish communities, and examples of devotion and dedication.
Bishop Earl Fernandes presented certificates to the women, who were recommended for recognition by one or more individuals during a nomination period.
Award recipients were Bella Arnold, Gina McCauley and Christina Carr of Lancaster Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption; Magdalena Baez and Mary Miller of Columbus Christ the King; Karen Ballou, Donna Swartz and Karen Szolosi of Columbus St. Agatha; Susan Baker, Brenda Case, Karen Cheatham, Lisa Cornelison, Sharon Reinhard, Marci Stone and Tammy Bergman of Columbus St. Cecilia; Sandra Bonneville of Columbus St. Aloysius and St. Mary Magdalene; Christine Bumgardner, Judy Harness, Sonia Luisa Lisk and Thecla Hauser of Chillicothe Our Lady, Queen of Apostles Parish; Susan Butler of Columbus Holy Spirit; Susan Colbert of Columbus St. Dominic; Bernadette Dinehart of Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare; Paige Donahue, Fran Kempf, Kathleen McKinniss and Mary Jeffries of Columbus Holy Family; Carol Fisher of Powell St. Joan of Arc; Monica Flynn and Leslie Fresco of Sunbury St. John Neumann; Mary Jo George and Sheila Tompos ofWesterville St. Paul the Apostle; Edith Macias of Columbus St. Stephen the Martyr; Karen Maguire of Columbus St. Margaret of Cortona; Debby Michael of Columbus St. Catharine of Siena; Rachel Muha of Columbus Our Lady of Victory; Emilia Ibarra Quiros of Columbus St. Thomas the Apostle; Jennifer Rice of Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator; Linda Strapp of Gahanna St. Matthew the Apostle; and Donna Swartz and Karen Szolosi of Columbus St. Agatha.
The St. Mother Teresa awards were presented for the first last year after succeeding the former Catholic Woman of the Year and Catholic Young Woman of the Year Awards, which were last presented in 2016.
DCCW, an affiliate of the National Council of Catholic Women, was founded in Columbus in 1947 by Bishop Michael Ready. Its members participate in activities during the year, and the group’s board meets quarterly. Annette Roth serves as the DCCW president in the diocese.
The Daughters of Isabella is a Catholic women’s ministry founded in 1897 by Father Michael McGivney, who also started the Knights of Columbus. The local group, which meets at St. Agatha Church, is open to all women and has a strong pro-life focus and supports vocations in the diocese.
