Sister Rose Margaret Schweers

02/18/1911 - 08/31/2009

Sister Rose Margaret Schweers, CSJ

St. Louis, Missouri - Sister Rose Margaret Schweers, 98, departed this life on August 31, 2009. She was born on February 18, 1911 to Mary Margaret O’Connor Schweers and John Bernard Schweers and was the youngest of the family’s nine children. The elder children were: John Bernard (1892), Edward Herman (1895), Eugene Florian (1897), Joseph Noel (1898), Margaret Elizabeth (1901), Catherine Eugenia (1901), Owen O’Connor (1903), and Carl Marion (1908). She was baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and grew up on the 1300 Block of Broad Street. Sr. Rose Margaret loved sports, especially swimming at Getzen’s Pond. She was Valedictorian of the 1928 class of Mt. St. Joseph Academy, received her B.S. in Latin and History from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, and did graduate work at Catholic University. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1939.
Sr. Rose Margaret taught in parochial schools for 13 years, as did her sisters, Sr. Margaret Eugenia Schweers and Sr. Mary Bernard Schweers. However, she most enjoyed finance and working at St. Joseph’s Hospital. From 1953 to 1990, she served at St. Joseph Hospital in various capacities, including, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Administrator, Director of Public Relations, Coordinator of Volunteers, Board Secretary for the Hospital Board, Board Member of the St. Joseph Center for Life Foundation, and Historian/Coordinator for the Remembrance Society.
Sr. Rose Margaret also served in many offices for the Georgia Hospital Financial Managers Association, including president in 1965. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and the Sr. Mary Louise Herman Award and Good Samaritan Award by St. Joseph Hospital. Sr. Rose Margaret was named 1997 Women of the Year for the United Daughters of the Confederacy. When asked how she accomplished so much for her religious community, her hospital, her family and the City of Augusta, she replied that her weapon was prayer. She recommended perseverance as one of the best tools for achievement. Sr. Rose Margaret rallied people of all walks of life and all faiths to support special health care for Augustans at St. Josephs Hospital. She also authored a history of the hospital, St. Josephs Hospital, Extending the work of Christ. A History of St. Joseph Hospital 1945-1989. During her later years, she received beautiful care by the Sisters of St. Joseph at the Nazareth Living Center, St. Louis, Missouri.
Sr. Rose Margaret is survived by her nieces Clare McCall, Elizabeth Schweers, Rocelia DeBorde, Anne Proctor, Peggy Stephens; nephews Ed Schweers, Owen Schweers, Ben Schweers, Carl Schweers and many great and great-great nieces and nephews. Aunt Peg, as she was known to family, was a beautiful example of a life well-lived in service to God.
A memorial mass will be held at St. Mary on the Hill Church, 1420 Monte Sano Avenue, 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 12, with a reception to follow at the home of a grand niece, 2642 Hillcrest Avenue. Memorials may be made to Sisters of St. Joseph Retirement Fund, 6400 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 63111 or to St. Mary on the Hill School. Thomas Poteet and Son, 214 Davis Rd .Augusta, GA 30907