Margaret Ann Hardner, SSJ

Sister Margaret Ann Hardner, SSJ, wanted to be a Maryknoll Sister and serve in a foreign land.  Her parents were reluctant, however, for her to be so far away. They felt she could do as much here with the Sisters of St. Joseph as she could overseas. An Erie native, she attended St. Patrick School, Villa Maria Academy and Villa Maria College in Erie, and later Xavier University and Providence College. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph from St. Patrick Parish and after 13 years of teaching and 34 years at Saint Vincent Health Center, including 22 years as president, she still felt the call to be a foreign missionary. When she heard in the late 1980s that Dr. Kripa Singh, a local psychiatrist, and his son wanted to start a small hospital in rural India to serve the poor, she was all in! She made the first of her nine trips to India in 1992 to minister in the clinic and later in the school, both established by the Shankar Service Foundation of Erie.  Though retirement would be well deserved, Sister Margaret Ann continues to minister and presently serves her congregation as its insurance coordinator.  

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