TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — One hundred and fifty-five years ago this month, seven nuns made the dangerous journey by foot and covered wagon from San Diego to Tucson. Known as the Seven Sisters of St. Joseph, they started St. Mary's Hospital in 1880, and opened the state's first nursing school in 1906.
One of their graduates, Alma Maish, reached out to me by email to share her personal 'Sisters of St. Joseph' story, after seeing our recent Absolutely Arizona segment on the history of the sisters in Tucson.
ABSOLUTELY ARIZONA | How the Seven Sisters' desert journey 155 years ago shaped Tucson history
Alma Maish was born and raised in the shadow of St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson.
"I just had the feeling that that's what I was supposed to do," Maish said.
A devoted Catholic, she followed in the footsteps of those seven Sisters of St. Joseph, who sacrificed so much to begin St. Mary's Hospital and eventually a nursing program that Maish attended on scholarship starting in 1952.
"Part of the day was teaching and then the next part of the day you were actually working with patients, which I loved."
She has a real connection with the seven Sisters of St. Joseph, having dressed up in full nuns' habits to honor the sisters as part of a Tucson Rodeo Parade float.
Alma Maish: "And those habits, I couldn't imagine how—they were heavy and hot."
Pat Parris: "This was to replicate the Seven Sisters?"
Alma Maish: "Yes, the Seven Sisters' Journey."
After graduating, Maish got married and had six kids, eventually going back to work as a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital for 22 years.
Now, at nearly 92, she's the proud grandmother of 18 and great-grandmother of 18. Her daughter Doris is a nurse practitioner and a faculty member with the Pima College nursing program.
Maish said being called to nursing is "the Lord's work," not unlike the calling the seven Sisters of St. Joseph had 155 years ago when they traveled to Tucson.
"There's so much you can do as a nurse, that I encourage young ladies and even young men to look into it, because it might be something that you really like to do," Maish told me. "If you really like to do it, then do it."
WATCH MORE | How the Seven Sisters' desert journey 155 years ago shaped Tucson history
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
