Sister Mary Evelyn Zimbauer

Sister Mary Evelyn Zimbauer, SDS came to know the Sisters of the Divine Savior as her teachers at Holy Name School, while growing up in Wausau, Wis. Ultimately, it was nursing rather than teaching that dovetailed with her call to religious life. “Nursing is part of who I am along with being a Salvatorian Sister,” Sr. Mary Evelyn says. “My desire to help people and advocate for others is engrained.” For more than 20 years, Sr. Mary Evelyn worked at Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, Wis. She readily credits tremendous team spirit among her colleagues there for the joy and fulfillment she derived from nursing. Sr. Mary Evelyn’s cancer diagnosis in 2005 strengthened the compassion and empathy she brought to her longtime ministry. She says patients didn’t need to hear her story, but her own bout with serious illness, treatment and its lasting effects made her more attuned to her patient’s needs. Sr. Mary Evelyn celebrated 50 years with the SDS congregation in 2013.