Cover Story

Sister of Mercy

En Español

Photo by Guillermo Sosa

She is a combination of the fountain of youth and a fountain of knowledge. She’s endured the Mexican Revolution, both world wars, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Grenada, the Persian Gulf War, the Afghanistan War and Iraq. She’s been alive for practically every papacy of the 20th century. She’s lived through17 U.S. presidents. She was around for the invention of modern radio and television, as well as many modern conveniences. Her keen mind offers a glimpse into the lives of early-20th-century south Texans via the traditional art form of oral history.

And she is the only Sister of Mercy to have walked the halls, prayed in the chapels and comforted those in need at three of the four Mercy Hospitals in Laredo’s history.Although she physically measures about 4’10”, Sister Mary De Lellis Treviño, RSM maintains a Texas sized presence in our community, driven by her passion for helping others and an impeccable reputation to match.

Born Amalia Treviño in Dec. of 1912 at (of all places) Mercy Hospital in Laredo, Sister De Lellis has lived through one of the most exciting eras in modern history.

From humble beginnings, Sister De Lellis graduated in the top 25 percent of her class from Laredo High School in 1933 when it was housed at what is today the La Posada Hotel.

In the midst of the Great Depression, the former high school cheerleader hoped to find a job, that would allow her to contribute at home and save enough money to enroll in an institution of higher education.

“My goal was to attend college and get a degree,” said Sister De Lellis. “But I couldn’t attend because my family didn’t have enough money. Venia de una familia muy humilde.”

The daughter of Jose Maria and Maria de Jesus Treviño readily admits she was a little naïve about her economic situation.

“I thought I would get a job, save money and then go to college,” said Sister De Lellis. “Like all the other girls who had recently graduated from high school, I went and applied at the department stores like Kress, Woolworth and El Precio Fijo (Richter’s), which were all in downtown Laredo. But no one would hire me. Estaba muy chaparra.” However, good fortune soon crossed paths with the young coed.

“I was introduced to the hospital by the hospital administrator. En aquellos tiempos no habian CEO’s, COO’s y todo eso. No mas tenian un administrator,” explained Sister De Lellis. “Sister Mary Camillus gave me my first job at Mercy Hospital. I began by taking trays to the patients.”

The new post provided a peek into the unselfish and compassionate lives of those who attend the infirmed. After a short while at Mercy Hospital, she was introduced to lab director Sister Mary Christina, who would have an immeasurable impact on the young Laredoan.

“Sister Mary Christina was a beautiful sister in both her religious life and her work life. She taught me everything. How to do it and why to do it,” exclaimed Sister De Lellis. “She became my mentor, providing me with books and giving me formal classes with assignments and tests.” Sister De Lellis soon became immersed in and enamored with the hospital work life. Her dedication and passion became a concern for her mother, Maria de Jesus.

“I fell in love with my work and my mother began to worry that I was spending too much time at the hospital,” said Sister De Lellis. “I still remember my mother telling me, ‘ya te pasas todo el dia y toda la semana allí y ahora te quieres pasar las noches tambien.’ I worked for about four or five years with the hospital and fell in love with what the Sisters were doing and I began liking the religious life that the Sisters lived.” After moving to St. Louis, studying in the convent and becoming professed in 1942, Sister De Lellis proceeded to acquire her initial goal of a collegiate degree.

“I earned my Bachelor of Science in just three years,” she said. “First, I worked at a hospital in Slaton, which is a small town in West Texas close to Lubbock and then I worked in Brownsville before being transferred to Laredo to replace Sister Mary Christina as lab director.”

According to Sister De Lellis’ nephew, Danny Guevara, the transfer signaled the start of a distinguished career as the pre-eminent lab director over a three-decade span. Guevara, who considers Sister De Lellis his mentor, believes that her expertise and vision modernized the laboratory.

“Back in the mid-1960s and then the early ‘70s she automated the laboratory,” explained Guevara, who is the outgoing chief operating officer at Mercy Health Center. “It was the only hospital in town and when you talk about spending about $60,000 back in the late ‘60s for a piece of equipment for the lab, that was a huge investment. The lab became a very progressive laboratory and the first in south Texas to have this type of automation. It was a state-of-the-art lab and she built it, starting with the hematology lab to the chemistry lab and eventually became totally automated.”

While her accomplishments in the medical field are noteworthy, this time period also marked another more significant beginning.

“There have always been people or families who needed help in Laredo,” explained Sister De Lellis. “I remember as a young girl during the Depression there was nothing. Aquí no habian soup kitchens. Eramos muy pobres y Laredo era mucho muy pobre.

“The poor people would go to the plantations and pick-up los des-perdicios de los labores porque todo lo que es el airport y el hos-pital nuevo eran puro labores. Habia cebollas, sanaorias, sandias, melones y claro que helote. Todo la gente era cebollera porque habia mucho trabajo en las cebollas.”

Those memories, as well as the humanitarian spirit personified by her mother despite their personal economic woes, motivated Sister De Lellis for her current and bold undertaking of feeding the poor.

“La idea de ayudarle a la gente me viene a mi de mis padres porque aunque nosotros fuimos una familia pobre, habian muchas mas pobres que nosotros,” Sister De Lellis recalled. “Mi mama era muy generosa y muy cuidadosa. No dejaba que ningun pedasito de pan o pedasito de nada se tirara o depreciaba porque alguien mas lo necesitava.”

Her effort to feed the poor began with humility. Sister De Lellis started handing out food from her lab to a handful of people. Typical of Laredo, where sound travels faster than light, word soon spread of her generosity.

“She gave cheese from the lab that caused the cheese riots of the 1980s,” recalls Guevara. “They created a huge line from the doors of the old hospital all the way to the ER room and people were being disorderly. The newspaper and the TV stations came out and it made the news. But it wasn’t much of a riot. She went out there and told everyone where to stand and where to go and that there was enough for everyone. The amazing thing is that everyone listened to her.”

As her popularity and philanthropy grew, Mercy Hospital provided a small building on the corner of Hendricks and Galveston to house the first La Casita in 1980. Twelve years later, after her retirement as lab director, Mercy’s La Casita moved to its current location, which it shares with the hospital’s fleet mechanic. The Lamar Bruni Vergara Rehabilitation and Education Center now sits on the original site.

While the Sister of Mercy doesn’t depend on her mother’s orchards of oranges, grapefruits and peaches to help the less fortunate, she does rely on the generosity of Mercy Health Center, south Texans, the Laredo Regional Food Bank and the South Texas Regional Food Bank to help the hungry.

According to Sister De Lellis and her small staff of volunteers, an average of 250 to 300 people gather at Mercy’s La Casita every Friday morning for the free food. They arrive at 601 Gustavus as early as the neighborhood roosters crow at the first sight of dawn. And every Friday, Sister De Lellis begins the disbursement with a group prayer offering thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ, for providing yet another bounty for the needy.

The nonperishable food items range from canned goods to cereal boxes to cases of fruit juice. The dispersed items always include an allotment of the cultural staples of rice and pinto beans.

The rice and bean combination carries such a strong sentiment with Sister De Lellis that she requested it as the main entreé following an award ceremony in her honor. In 1998, Laredo Mayor Elizabeth G. “Betty” Flores and the Laredo Regional Food Bank presented Sister De Lellis with the Dr. Sandra Clayton Richard Memorial Anti-hunger Awareness Award.

“Comimos frijoles con arroz porque eso es la comida de la gente pobre,” said Sister De Lellis. “That was a very special day for me. The mayor presented me with the award and that meant a lot to me.”

The honors continued in 1999 as the Sister of Mercy was inducted into the Laredo Women’s Hall of Fame. And a timeless recognition, according to Guevara, centers upon the development of the Clinical Laboratory Assistant Program in Laredo. That curriculum eventually transferred to Laredo Community College and still exists today as the Medical Laboratory Technician Program.

“She has always been very supportive of education and helping people advance,” added Guevara. “She has been a role model for me and for many young men and women.”

Despite the numerous accolades she has received for her outstanding work, Sister De Lellis considers the Mercy Novitiate to be among the greatest things she has witnessed during her long lifetime.

“Secretly, I had a strong desire for Laredo to host the novitiate for the Sisters of Mercy. I prayed many times for this to happen,” explained Sister De Lellis. “The Sisters from Sacred Heart Children’s Home had already hosted a novitiate. So had the Salesian Sisters from Mary Help and the Brothers of St. John had also done it. And I thought, we’ve been here for so long how come we haven’t done it?”

Guevara, who now serves as the chief executive officer of the newly formed Mercy Ministries of Laredo, emphasized once again the importance his aunt played in establishing the novitiate in Laredo.

“This idea for the Novitiate for the Sisters of Mercy, it was her idea because I remember being in on some of the discussions of what was going to happen to that old convent,” said Guevara. “It was her idea to transfer it to the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and make it into a novitiate. That’s where the idea was born.”

As great as it was to see this dream materialize, it was equally as devastating to witness the sale of an institution. Sister De Lellis never foresaw the pending transfer of ownership for the hospital. “Esto a sido un golpe muy terrible para mi. Nunca pensaba yo que nos iba pasar esto,” lamented Sister De Lellis. “But these things happen for a reason and we must trust in our Lord.”

With the pending transition at Mercy Health Center, once again Sister De Lellis witnesses another chapter in the history annals and continues to place her faith and trust in God for a positive outcome. Throughout the wars, the changing times, and the political and social upheavals she has experienced, Sister De Lellis has maintained one focus ? the people of the time. It is her conviction to help others that has kept her adaptable, but more important, it’s mercy that has made these ambitions a reality throughout tumultuous times.

She has endured 91 years of intense transformation.

She has helped to feed and care for thousands during this time.

She continues today as a Sister of Mercy!

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Cover Story

Sister Mercy

She is a combination of the fountain of youth and a fountain of knowledge....