Sr Rita Connor: Living Legend of the West
14 May, 2021Sr Rita Connor honoured for service to Catholic Education
The words “living legend of the West” are a very apt way to describe Sister of Mercy, Sr Rita Connor.
For the past 30 years, Sr Rita has ministered so very well and in so many ways to the people of Barcaldine and surrounds. Her contribution in that time to the community and to the Ministry of Catholic Education has been quite extraordinary and deserving of the highest commendation.
Recently on a visit to the far West, Diocesan Director of Catholic Education, Leesa Jeffcoat hosted a dinner in Barcaldine to recognise and thank Sr Rita for her many years of outstanding, dedicated and selfless service to the Barcaldine community and to Catholic Education in Barcaldine, surrounding areas and in many parts of the Diocese.
It was a wonderful celebration where Miss Jeffcoat paid tribute to Sr Rita’s compassion, her boundless energy and enthusiasm and her passionate commitment to the students at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Barcaldine and the staff who had worked at the school over the past many years.
“Sr Rita has been a mentor and a friend to so many teachers and principals at St Joseph’s, generously sharing her wisdom and nourishing their development as Catholic educators. Still today Sr Rita is a valued and much-loved presence at St Joseph’s and in the wider Barcaldine and surrounding communities”. Miss Jeffcoat said.
A surprise visitor at the celebration dinner was State Minister for Education, Hon Grace Grace MP, who congratulated Sr Rita on the amazing contribution she had made to the education of generations of children in the far west and across the Diocese.