Sister Veronica Susan of Mary
Sr. Veronica is a native of Mattoon, Illinois, born in 1950. After attending Catholic schools, she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Dance (modern) from Indiana University. After graduation, as a substitute teacher, she taught various subjects and began to work on a Masters in Psychology.
She then moved to California where she taught dance at Marin Academy, and coached volleyball and soccer. While living on the West Coast, she continued to take various psychology courses towards her Master's degree. After several years, she returned to Indiana and taught the 7th grade at St. Joan of Arc School in Indianapolis. Additionally, she taught movement and coordination classes for the hearing-impaired at the Indiana School for the Deaf. This innovative class was a new, pioneering program sponsored by the federal government. She also had the opportunity to coach track and field events there.
During the summer school breaks, she worked for several different nursing homes and fell in love with the Elderly. After becoming frustrated and discouraged about how the elderly were being taken care of in these facilities, she encountered for the first time the Little Sisters of the Poor in Indianapolis through a prayer group to which she belonged. Here, "at the Little Sisters of the Poor's Home I saw the manner in which the Elderly could and should receive care." One year later, she entered the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor where she has joyously and gratefully cared for the elderly for 25 years as a daughter of Blessed Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
She has served in homes in Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Washington, DC, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Alabama, Louisiana, and France.