Sister Loretta Schreiber
Born in Milan, WI, Irene Schreiber grew up in the country and on a dairy farm. Her parents, Bernard and Hattie (Soucek) Schreiber, were good church going people and always took the family to church. “We had to walk to grade school, three older brothers, one younger and myself. All eight grades were in one room with one teacher,” Sister Loretta said.
She heard of Our Lady of the Holy Cross High School in Merrill, WI, and she wanted to go there. “I became well acquainted with the Holy Cross Sisters. In those days, almost all the teachers were Holy Cross Sisters. I graduated in 1947. I went to Mass almost every morning at 6 a.m. in the hospital chapel. The sisters were prayerful and caring and I wanted to be one of them and go into hospital work.”
Sister Loretta remembers that her father was in World War I and he told stories of how they took care of the sick. “I’m sure that had an influence on my interest in becoming a nurse and taking care of the sick,” she said. Sister Margaret Roberts was director of the LPN program at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson, ND. “I graduated from the program and continued working there. Sister Baltasara worked in surgery and I became interested in working as a surgical tech. After 12 years at St. Joseph’s in Dickinson, working in both surgery and in the Emergency Room, I was transferred to Holy Cross Hospital (now Good Samaritan) in Merrill, WI.”
After a short two years there she went to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese, IL, in 1968. She worked 27 years as an Emergency Room nurse and took care of many people over the years. She said, “When some of these people come to the hospital now, they still remember me. I often hear “Do you remember when you took care of me!”
Sister made her First Profession on July 2, 1949, and is glad she is a Holy Cross Sister and thankful to God for the talents and strength to do the work she is doing. Sister works as a Messenger/Transporter to departments and Health Information Services.
She resides at 9620 Holy Cross Lane, Breese, IL, 62230, where she still enjoys gardening, flowers, feeding the birds, all kinds of crafts and music.