award.page

On March 9, 2002, Sister Regina was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award by The Woman's Philanthropy Society of Cabell Huntington Hospital and Mrs. Brent A. Marsteller. The award luncheon was held at the Radisson Hotel in Huntington, WV. Sister Regina was nominated by Dr. Linda Kessinger.

She said "I love words, always have"  Her mother told her that when she
was very young she would bring her spelling list home to learn, and she
would make a story using the words in the list.

After she graduated from high school she worked for a dentist for one
year then entered St Joseph's Sisters of Clooney.  She went to college,
graduated with a degree in English and American Literature.  She taught
grade school for 2 years in Philadelphia, then taught english in a high
school of all girls (3400 students in a school built for much less) She
taught 60 kids in a class, 5 classes a day for 6 years.
She then was sent to Haiti where she taught English as a second language
for 7 years.  She was there when Poppa Doc died and Baby Doc took
power.  She said Poppa Doc was planning to kill them but died before
that happened.  She taught his grand daughter and once sent her out of
class for misbehaving. The head of the school was afraid they would all
be punished and the Haitian army would soon be on their doorstep, but
instead the granddaughter's mother thanked her for treating her like all
the other kids. She caught amebiasis in Haiti and has since been plagued
with bowel problems. When she returned from Haiti, she directed the
Formation Program for 9 years (this is where she trained nuns to be
nuns)  After this she and Sister Marie traveled in Appalachia (NC,
WV,TN) and their community decided to send Sister Marie to Whitesville
in Boone County and Sister Regina came to Harts.  Her life here has been
to minister to people's needs as a counselor, social worker, and
community developer for the past 16 years.  Her first career was
teaching, the second social work, and she'll soon be embarking on a
third career - no one knows what that will be come June 2002 (maybe
writing) - a nun's work is never done.

(of note - Sister Marie who went to Whitesville, is now the Provincial -
Head Nun of the province including the United States and Canada , and
Sister Regina's contribution to the people of Harts Creek will be
forever engraved in these hills - WV seems to attract and train top of
the class people.)

The St Joseph Sisters of Clooney is named after a place in France and
began in the 1800's.  She told me much more about their order but I
don't remember it accurately enough to relate details.  I do remember
she said that her brother would call them the looney cloonies. While in
Haiti she was the only American sister. She worked there with Haitian,
French, and Spanish sisters.

In Harts she has done a multitude of things, of which I know only the
top of the iceberg - organizes and runs work camps to repair homes each
summer, building homes 'for the rural homeless', started Harts Community
Development and Harts Outreach, has provided counseling through Prestera
and Harts Health Center, as well as through her home, provided emergency
financial help to multitudes, organized Christmas for those who would
have little or nothing, served on a multitude of community boards and
worked on all sorts of special projects (including Harts Health Party),
helped lots of organizations and agencies network, and ministered to
spiritual needs in times of sickness, tragedy and death.

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