Sister Daniel Joseph Pardini,
Current Location – Monrovia, CA
Loretta Anne Pardini was born November 13, 1941 in San Jose, CA to Ernesta M. (Bei) and Elmo Pardini. She had 2 sisters: (her twin) Loreene, Sr. Dolores Marie, SND and 2 brothers: Richard and Dr. Daniel. Loretta graduated from Notre Dame High School, San Jose. In 1962, she graduated from O’Connor Hospital, San Jose as a Registered Nurse with a Diploma in Nursing.
Sister Daniel Joseph Pardini or “D.J.,” spent thirty-two years ministering to the people of Hong Kong and Hawaii. Born in San Jose, California she desired to dedicate herself to God as early as age fifteen, so on October 18,1962, at twenty-one, she entered Maryknoll at their novitiate in Valley Park, MO.
She pronounced First Vows June 24, 1965 at the Center in NY. At the time of First Vows she was given the Religious Name of Sister Daniel Joseph (known as Sister DJ.) She Pronounced Final Vows June 24, 1972 in Hong Kong. Her first mission assignment was to the Hong Kong-Macau Region in 1965. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, she began learning Cantonese at Hong Kong Chinese University Language School from 1965 to 1967 while she also served as a nurse at Maryknoll Hospital in Hong Kong.
After professing first vows, she also earned an Associate of Arts-General Studies from Rogers College and then was assigned to Hong Kong in 1966. Sister D.J. found herself immersed in the challenges of a foreign culture. The bustle and grit of the city were unfamiliar, though her interactions with the people, as she immersed herself in language study, brought her to a new understanding and love for the Chinese.
Sister D.J. began work as a Supervisor at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital in 1967, continuing, in the years that followed, as Assistant Nurse in the Female and then the Chronic Wards.
In 1979, Sister D.J. returned to the Maryknoll Center for Congregational Service in the Health Unit. After three years, she then set out for an eleven month assignment to the Western U.S. Region, where she worked with the Hospice program in Santa Clara, California.
In 1982, Sister D.J. returned to Hong Kong’s Maryknoll Hospital where she began special work as an Assistant Matron, later expanding her work to pastoral ministry in three government hospitals.
In 1988, Sister D.J. was assigned to Hawaii, a place she grew almost immediately to love as a second home. She would spend the next fifteen years ministering to the poor and homeless, seeking to become a witness to God’s love in their lives through her work in the Housing Projects. Sister D.J. also held workshops targeting nutrition, vocational training, and personal dignity.
Since 2004, Sister D.J. has been an active and prayerful member of the Monrovia Retirement Community in California.