Mary Margaret Murphy SL, Vice President

Although I was born in Erie, Pa., I attended six different grade schools and lived in Kentucky, Ohio and Colorado. I met the Sisters of Loretto in Denver at Blessed Sacrament Grade School. Upon graduating in Denver from Machebeuf High School, I entered the Loretto novitiate. I graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver with a double major in English and education. Later I enrolled in University Without Walls and received a degree in early childhood development.

After graduating from Loretto Heights, I was missioned to Taos, N.M., where I taught first grade at St. Joseph School. This was the beginning of my lifetime service to the Hispanic community. Two years later, I joined Loretto in Rawlins, Wyo., where I assisted with the development of a daycare/Head Start Center, and I served as a teacher and Family Outreach Worker. Since this was the only daycare center in Rawlins, it brought all segments of the community together in an early-childhood learning environment in a Hispanic barrio.

I continued my work in early childhood development, when I moved to Pueblo, Colo., and became the director of the newly-formed Eastwood Day Care Center. Five years later I moved to the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, where I lived for more than 26 years. While in the Valley, I did advocacy for the elderly through Christian Community Services; was a case manager for Conejos County Public Health and later for Valleywide Community Health Clinic; and introduced SHARE Colorado, a statewide Catholic Charities program which made a nutritious food package available monthly to anyone who paid a modest fee and did volunteer work in their community.

After living in the Valley for 26 years, I moved to El Paso, Texas. For 12 years, I served as the case manager at El Paso Villa Maria, a shelter for women who are homeless. In 2018 I transitioned from Villa Maria when I was elected to serve as Vice President in the Loretto Community and started to coordinate the Loretto Volunteer Program, which expanded to El Paso in August of that year. In July 2024, I was re-elected Vice President of the Loretto Community, and today I also serve as a consultant to El Paso Villa Maria.