Portrait of Dr. Ann Manganaro SL To Hang at Nerinx Hall

A beautifully framed copy of the portrait titled “Sister Ann” was presented to the student body of Nerinx Hall following an all-school Mass Dec. 8 at the Loretto-sponsored all-girls Catholic high school in Webster Groves. Accepting the gift on behalf of Nerinx were the school’s president John Gabriel and principal Molly Grumich.

The portrait was given to the school on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a feast day on which a number of Sisters of Loretto had made their first vows. A group of Loretto Sisters renewed their vows at the Mass and joined with Co-members in renewing their commitment of support for Loretto.

The portrait, by artist Patricia Watwood, is of Ann Manganaro SL, M.D., a 1964 graduate of Nerinx Hall. It honors Ann for her love and service to her patients at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and the clinic she established in rural Guarjila, El Salvador. Ann devoted her life and skill at this clinic from 1988 until 1993, the year Ann died of cancer at age 46. The clinic now bears the name Clinica Comunal Ana Manganaro in her memory.

The original of the portrait hangs at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Watwood was commissioned by the Cardinal Glennon Foundation to do the portrait. Dr. Ken and Marjie Smith, the artists’ parents, presented the copy of their daughter’s work to the school. They and their daughter had come to admire and respect Ann as they learned of her life and work through the commissioned effort. Among those joining the Smiths at the presentation were Cardinal Glennon physicians Dr. Sarah Legett and Dr. Dennis O’Connor, O’Connor’s wife, and Loretto Sister Donna Day. Dr. O’Connor’s maternal aunts were Sisters of Loretto, Ann (Ludavine) and Jane Frances Mueller.