Current Ministry Location: Western Region, U.S.

Sister Rose Marie, from Stockton, California, entered Maryknoll in 1954.  In 1969 she earned a B.A. in Sociology from Maryknoll College in the Philippines.  In 1975 she received an M.A. in East Asian Studies and Comparative Sociology from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.  She also received a Ph.D. in Literature from Sophia University in 1987.

Sister Rose Marie went to Japan in 1959.  She taught in the English and Sociology departments of Aoyama Gakuin Women’s College. She also taught at Sophia University and at Seikei University High School.  While she was in Japan, she was also a religious education coordinator, she worked to form Christian communities, and served with women in peace education.  Sister Rose Marie lived in Asia for 33 years.

From 1987 – 1990 Sister Rose Marie worked at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in the Development Department.  She was assigned to Nepal in 1991 and was involved in educational ministry for five years with the Jesuits in Katmandu and the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Bandipur.

In 1996 Sister Rose Marie was assigned to Gallup Diocese in 1996.  The diocese covers northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico.  From 1996 – 2001, she was a staff member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Therapeutic Residence for Native American Girls in need of Alternative Housing.  She is a board member of CARE66, a non-profit organization that helps homeless people.  She has been an instructor in women’s studies at New Mexico State University.

Sister Rose Marie became coordinator of the Office of Peace, Justice and Creative Stewardship of the Gallup diocese in 2001, a position she still holds.  She is also the director of lay spiritual formation in the diocesan lay ministry formation program.  Sister Rose Marie joined other Gallup citizens in forming Gallup Solar in 2007, a project to bring a 50 – 400 megawatt-size solar power plant to the Gallup-McKinley county area.

Sister Rose Marie joins statewide Pax Christi members and other faith-based peace groups in prayer each August at Los Alamos Lab to commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Sister Rose Marie wrote a book called Women’s Action for Peace and Justice.  She has also contributed to various books and magazines with articles about Japanese women, the Japanese and a dialogue with a Buddhist nun.