Then and Now - IHM Sisters

Sister Lois (Mary Jermone) Jackson, IHM

I moved from Detroit to Dearborn with my family in second grade and attended Sacred Heart School. Between my junior and senior years in high school, I spent two weeks at Grailville Center for lay spirituality and action in Ohio, experiencing community living in the spirit of the early Church. It was the first time I realized we are the Church.

After this experience, my religious calling came to fruition. Although my parents were sad to see the oldest of their three daughters leaving home, they supported my decision to join the IHMs right out of high school. I embraced my postulancy as an “adventure.” I was anxious to go on a mission but got the opportunity a year earlier than my classmates. I felt special because of this.

I taught sixth grade at St. Mary of Redford for a year, sixth and eighth grade at Christ the King in Detroit for three years, and grades seven and eight at St. Joseph in Erie, Michigan, for five years. I also taught English classes for a year at Immaculate Heart of Mary High School in Westchester, Illinois and three years at Port Huron Catholic Central.

When Catholic Central closed, I was minister of education at St. Stephen in Port Huron; then, I was director of religious education for St. Ives’ Parish in Southfield, Michigan, and associate pastor at Holy Name Parish in Birmingham, Michigan. I completed my master’s degrees in counseling from Oakland University and institutional administration from the University of Notre Dame. I also hold master’s degrees in education from Marygrove College and religious studies from the University of Detroit.

Following my tenure at Holy Name, I became the Director of the St. Mary Center for Lifelong Learning in Monroe. After five years, the sisters elected me to the IHM Central Administration, serving as Coordinator of Material Resources. After completing a six-year term, I became associate director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in Maryland, where I planned meetings and managed the budget for seven years. Finally, I was executive assistant to the president at the National Office of the Jesuits of the United States in Washington for 12 years.

I have appreciated how the IHM community has grown and walked together in insights. Even our way of praying together has developed a togetherness in how we listen to and move with the signs of the times. I am grateful for my adventures and good health along the way. I feel blessed to have had the opportunities I have had throughout the years. Now that I am retired and living at the Motherhouse, I appreciate my time for prayerful solitude, reading, relaxing and catching up with my family and friends.