As her retirement commences, Sr. Agnes Weber, CSJ, receives award recalling Bishop Gerber
Sr. Agnes Weber, CSJ, knew Wichita’s Catholic Care Center was hosting a party to celebrate her scheduled July 15 retirement as its director of pastoral care. She did not know, however, that the event on Thursday, July 9, was also an award presentation.
Shortly after Catholic Care Center Chaplain Fr. Daniel Spexarth presented Sr. Weber with a custom-made St. Elizabeth of Hungary rosary (“so she can continue to pray for us,” he said), Catholic Care Center Executive Director Cindy LaFleur followed up with another presentation. She recounted how former Diocese of Wichita Bishop Eugene Gerber founded Catholic Care Center with a vision to serve the vulnerable and show the world how to care for seniors. That, LaFleur explained, inspired the facility’s leadership team to institute a new way to recognize individuals who fulfill that legacy.
“Sister, you are going to receive the inaugural Bishop Eugene Gerber Award,” LaFleur said.
Along with the plaque Sr. Weber received, LaFleur noted, Sr. Weber and future recipients would be commemorated alongside a picture of Bishop Gerber in Catholic Care Center’s front hallway.
“You will always be the first because you are our number one,” LaFleur said.
The diocese’s current shepherd, Bishop Carl Kemme, congratulated Sr. Weber for her award and her two-and-a-half decades of service at Catholic Care Center. “Think of the thousands of people whose lives you’ve touched … and ministered to and cared for in such a beautiful way,” Bishop Kemme said. “Thank you so much.”
“I have truly enjoyed all the time that I’ve been privileged to serve here at Catholic Care Center, and it’s amazing the number of people that have crossed my path,” Sr. Weber said. She went on to quip that, “You know, it’s probably time to retire when the daughters and sons of residents that you knew when you first came here are now checking in as residents.”
A relational focus
Sr. Weber does not hesitate when she is asked about her favorite part of the job.
“The people,” she said.
That includes residents in their final days, as well as the people who love them. Her accompaniment also has included helping new residents adjust. “It’s a big move for them,” Sr. Weber said. “To journey with them along the way has been such a privilege.”
Her successor at Catholic Care Center, Sr. Tushara Babilu, CSST, worked at the facility years ago, and recalled that Sr. Weber had been a hardworking and helpful presence. “I always saw her around here,” Sr. Babilu said. “She was just very outgoing, very compassionate. She knew everyone, and she was everywhere – feeding the fish, watering the plants, sometimes at the reception desk.”
That flexibility corresponded with what Sr. Weber said was her greatest lesson from the preceding 25 years. “No two days are ever going to be the same,” she said. “I’ve always been blessed with the ability to just kind of take it as it comes, and that’s what you need in a setting like this. You might begin the day thinking you’re going to do this or that, … but that gets put on the back burner because other things come up.”
As for being the inaugural winner of an award recognizing recipients’ care for seniors, Sr. Weber said it was both a privilege and an awesome responsibility.
“I came originally from hospital ministry, and I tell new (Catholic Care Center) employees … that what I like about senior care is that you don’t typically have time to build relationships in the hospital because patients are either too sick or they’re there for too short a time. Here you can build relationships with them and their families. And so it goes back to what I like best about it: the people.”
