Sister Mary Bonaventure Gowan, 86, nurse who tended the sick here and in India
Sister Bonaventure was a legend in the Sisters of Mercy community. Dressed in a white habit and veil, she could be found at her nursing post at all hours of the day and well into the night.
Sister Mary Bonaventure Gowan, 86, a nurse whose long career took her to the bedsides of hospital patients in Philadelphia and to leper camps in India, died March 26, of respiratory failure at McAuley Convent in Merion.
“Sister Bonaventure’s knowledge and skills were matched with a compassionate spirit,” said Sister Maureen Murray, a fellow member of the Sisters of Mercy.
Born Jean Ann Gowan to Felix and Ellen Gowan in Doylestown, she graduated from Notre Dame Academy, Wyncote, and Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. After working as a nurse for several years, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1955 and professed her vows in 1957.
Sister Bonaventure, as she was known, was a nurse and nurse supervisor at Mercy Hospital Philadelphia and then at Mercy Hospital in Sea Isle City, N.J.
In 1964, she began a 12-year ministry at Mercy Hospital in Jamshedpur, India, where she tended to hospital patients and others living in the surrounding villages. Each Friday, she accompanied Sister Mary Liguori, a surgeon, to Jamshedpur’s leper encampment to treat patients.
"I think that was meaningful to her, said Sister Patricia Carroll, a fellow Sister of Mercy in Merion. “In India, at the time, the lepers had great difficulty with their feet, and she was determined to find some way to give them relief.”
She took cans that had contained oil and bent down the sides, creating a foot bath out of the containers. “People in India said that to see the looks on those persons’ faces when they got that relief is something they’ll never forget.”
Once a week, Sister Bonaventure also helped the villagers by offering nursing care from a red Jeep with a picnic bench fastened to the back, Sister Patricia said.
During her time in Jamshedpur, the region experienced a severe famine. Sister Bonaventure set up a system to serve one meal a day to 300 people. Despite her limited facility with the Hindi language, she oversaw the teams that cooked bulgur wheat dishes for the hungry.
In 1976, Sister Bonaventure returned to Merion to coordinate medical care for elderly, sick members of the Sisters of Mercy. She was the first director of McAuley Convent when it opened in 1979 and continued until 2015. Over time, she became director of nursing and coordinator of health services at McAuley.
Her kindness in caring for the sick and dying made her a legend among the Sisters of Mercy. Wearing a signature white habit and veil, she could be found at the nurses’ station at McAuley at all hours of the day and sometimes into the night.
When not on duty, Sister Bonaventure stole away after dinner to tend her flower gardens or to watch a Phillies game.
“Sister Bonaventure always went above and beyond the call of duty,” said a friend Phyllis Kane of Havertown. “She always had time to answer a question even if you weren’t a Sister of Mercy. I enjoyed bringing her mint chocolate cookies, which she loved.”
Sister Bonaventure celebrated her 60th jubilee as a Sister of Mercy in 2014. She retired in 2015 from her duties to McAuley Convent, where she enjoyed reading, watching television, and doing word puzzles.
A brother, Robert, died earlier.
Services were Monday. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the religious order’s Community Cemetery in Merion.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community at the above address.