Gerrie Naughton
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Sister Gerrie Naughton RSM | |
|---|---|
 Sr. Naughton (left) singing at a protest in McAllen, Texas, January 2007. | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | April 26, 1942 Roscommon, Ireland |
| Died | October 29, 2009 (aged 67) McAllen, Texas, United States |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Order | Sisters of Mercy |
Catherine "Gerrie" Naughton (1942–2009) was a Roman Catholic nun of the Sisters of Mercy (RSM). In 1987 she founded ARISE Adelante to serve people, mostly women and children, living in the unincorporated colonias (low-income, informal communities sometimes called slums) of the Rio Grande Valley.[1] Members of ARISE receive assistance for a period of time but then must volunteer back to the community in a distributive leadership model.[2][3] Naughton's motto was "ARISE does not do for the people what the people can do for themselves."[4]
Naughton was born in 1942 in County Roscommon, Ireland.[5] Her parents were Mary Fallon Naughton and Patrick Naughton.[6] She decided to immigrate to the United States when a priest from visited her high school to talk about the need for missionaries in Mississippi.[7] She came to the United States at age 17 in 1959, giving her address as the Convent of Mercy in St. Louis, Missouri.[8] She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics.
Work as a teacher in Louisiana and Mississippi
Between 1960 and 1978 she taught high school science and math in Louisiana and Mississippi.[7] From 1978 to 1983 she worked in Meridian, Mississippi as Director of Religious Education at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, but left to seek more direct outreach. She moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi in August 1983 to work at Sacred Heart Catholic Church as a pastoral assistant for Monsignor John Scanlon, making 20 home visits a week to work her way through a roster of 800 families, thus receiving important preparation for her future career-defining work in Texas.[9] She was known for casual dress, an informal style, and a keen interest in meeting people in their homes and learning about their needs.[7] She was also a competitive runner, participating in the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans, and the Coca-Cola Classic in Hattiesburg, both in 1984, finishing second in the latter.[10] She was the Red Carpet Run female master's champion in 1984.[11]