A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Mary Jo Swift, D.C., was celebrated Aug. 12, 2013, at the Seton Residence Chapel on Mater Dei Campus in Evansville, Ind. Sister Mary Jo donated her body to science.
Sister Mary Jo died Aug. 2, 2013, at 82 years of age at Seton Residence in Evansville. In 2013, she celebrated 61 years of vocation as a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 8, 1931, Sister Mary Jo was the eighth of 11 children born to Joseph Raphael and Josephine (McCarthy) Swift.
Sister graduated from St. Joseph Academy in Des Moines in 1949 and entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis, Mo., in 1952. In 1959, Sister Mary Jo earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Marillac College in St. Louis; in 1961, she earned her Master of Science degree in biology from Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y.; and in 1963, Sister completed her Ph.D. in biology at Fordham University.
After initial formation, Sister Mary Jo taught in schools in Perryville, Mo., (St. Vincent’s Grade School from 1954 to 1958); and St. Louis (Central Catholic Community School from 1971 to 1972—part-time). She taught biology at Marillac College in St. Louis from 1963 to 1973.
In 1973, Sister Mary Jo was missioned to the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D., where she served as a parish minister and then in the Office of Social Concerns in Rapid City, S.D., after which she ministered in Guadalupe/Christ the King in Scottsbluff, Neb., until 1978. After a year of study at the Berlitz School of Language, Sister began missionary work as a teacher and administrator in Bolivia. In 1988, she returned to serve in several health ministries in Austin, Texas, until 1997 when she was sent to St. Louis where she assisted with the care of Senior Sisters and then served as a provincial councillor for the former West Central Province based in St. Louis. In 2004, Sister began her service as the wellness program coordinator of DCSSA in San Antonio, Texas. During this time, she became a member of the South Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking and gave presentations to raise awareness of the issue and continued this work when she moved to Evansville in 2011.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents and nine siblings and she is survived by one brother, Donald Swift; many nieces and nephews; friends; and her Sisters in Community.