A half-century after graduating, Catherine Relihan ’56 reflected on her 50-year career as a nurse and concluded, “I am thankful for my decision to attend the College of Mount St. Joseph’s nursing program.”
Catherine’s words were written on the occasion of her Mount Golden Anniversary celebration in 2006. Having recently retiredafter a long and fulfilling career, her retrospective credited the Mount with preparing her well “to meet the challenges of change and adapt to many areas of nursing.”
Two years later Catherine’s sister, Mary Relihan, echoed these words in a letter to Mount President Tony Aretz: “Catherine valued most highly her excellent training at the Mount for a career she loved and to which she gave so much of her time and energy.”
Sadly, in this same letter came the news of Catherine’s death. “Catherine died on 12 July 2008 as a result of very fast-progressing metastatic cancer,” Mary wrote. The message that followed was bittersweet.
“Catherine postponed the task of making a will, despite my urging, until too late,” continued Mary. “However, during a verbal final request within days of her passing, she did express to me her wish that her assets go to the College of Mount St. Joseph. I am making plans to honor her wish.”
Catherine’s final gesture was the culmination of a life of selfless dedication to the nursing profession and the ultimate expression of gratitude. Following her Mount graduation, Catherine returned to her home state of West Virginia where she began her career serving people in rural areas with medical-surgical and obstetric care. After earning certification in gerontology, Catherine devoted many years to caring for patients in a residential nursing facility.
Eager to prepare future nurses and share her love for her profession, Catherine pursued graduate work in vocational education and education administration along with independent studies in nursing curriculum. She won the admiration and respect of her nursing students as coordinator of practical nursing education for her local school system, and ensured the integrity of nursing preparation as a long-time member of accreditation teams.
When the time came to fulfill Catherine’s final wishes, Mary knew exactly how her sister would want her gift used, even though she had given no specific directives. Mary was keenly aware that Catherine deeply appreciated her Mount “roots,” and that over the years she had expressed her gratitude through generous gifts supporting the College’s nursing and health sciences programs. Catherine also recognized and helped fill the critical need for scholarship funds to provide students with “the opportunity to receive a quality education... and spiritual values so needed in the world today.”
Catherine’s generosity will have a lasting impact as it fulfills her charitable wishes. A portion of her estate gift will support operating expenses for the nursing program, ensuring that students continue to have access to the excellent academic and clinical training that Catherine so valued. As costs associated with maintaining a quality program increase, her gift will provide assurance that aspiring nurses have the tools they need to succeed and leave the Mount, as Catherine did, well-equipped to face the challenges of their profession.
The remainder of Catherine’s gift will create an endowed scholarship fund that will assist adult students pursuing nursing careers through the Master of Nursing (MN) and part-time evening Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. In her role as a nurse educator, Catherine worked closely with adult students who decided to become nurses later in life. Both the Mount’s MN and evening BSN programs are designed with similar goals: to reach adults searching for new career opportunities through nursing.
Dedication to her profession, care and compassion for the sick, ongoing education and enrichment, eagerness to share her passion for nursing, and a generous spirit defined Catherine’s life for more than 50 years – and now shape her legacy for generations to come.