Sister Peggy Lipsio
Current Mission Location– Eastern Region – N Carolina
Peggy Lipsio was born March 25, 1938 in New Rochelle, NY to Beatrice (Linden) Lipsio and Chester Lipsio. She had one sister. Peggy graduated from St. Gabriel’s High School, New Rochelle, in 1956.
Peg entered the Maryknoll Sisters at the Sisters Center in New York September 2, 1957. She pronounced First Vows June 24, 1960 at the Center and Final Vows June 24, 1966 in Chile
After three years working for the Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers Society and 2 years as a student, she was assigned to Chile in 1965. She studied Spanish in Pucón and moved to Talca, living among the poor, sharing their lives and their poverty. She did pastoral work, visiting people in their homes and giving Christian formation programs for married couples, as well as attending the parish clinic mornings to give injections. After ten years, she reluctantly left Chile and the people. Expelled under General Pinochet’s notorious regime of violence and repression, she had risked her own life to save another.
Forced out of Chile in 1975 and back in the States, Sister Peggy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Rogers College, Maryknoll NY in 1971, a Diploma in Nursing from Westchester County Medical Center, Valhalla, NY in 1977 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Pace University, Pleasantville, NY in 1981.
She was assigned to Thailand In response to Catholic Relief Services appeal for volunteer nurses to help in Cambodian refugee camps. She supervised a maternal child health program for a population of 40,000 and, understanding what life is in violent situations, took time to listen to their stories.
Assigned to the Eastern U.S. Region in 1983, she did nursing service in Ossining, NY, Rochester, NY as a Public Health Nurse for the Monroe County Health Department, first as a Home Health Nurse, the only Spanish-speaking nurse in her division, a blessing to her many Hispanic clients. She was also a maternal/child care nurse and worked in the TB clinic.
In 1978, she moved to North Carolina, again sharing her skills and experience as a Henderson County Public Health Nurse, ministering to pregnant Hispanic women. She works with a Physician’s Assistant to provide physical, social and educational help to these women. Her language fluency is a great asset as she visits the trailer parks and low income housing in the county.
As a volunteer nurse with the American Red Cross, she rushed to Natchitoches, Louisiana in response to the Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the gulf coast, helping in a shelter for more than 600 people. She has since returned to North Carolina.