Photographer: David Stradal

The accomplishments of an “ageless, remarkable St. Louisan,” Mary Patricia Rives, RSCJ, were highlighted this week in articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and in the St. Louis suburban Press-Journal. Sister Rives, 82, was among twenty-five St. Louis seniors so honored at an event on Sunday, November 13.

Sister Rives, who believes that age should be no detriment to those who have energy, determination and desire, works full-time as school nurse at Villa Duchesne-Oak Hill School and devotes tireless energy to serving the poor, especially the poor of other countries.

Each year, she takes a group of high school students to Mexico to work on such service projects on as planting trees and gardens and building dams while engaging in cultural exchange with the native Mexicans.

Sister Rives has raised funds to provide solar ovens to Africans and Haitians, personally distributing some of the ovens herself. The ovens allow people to utilize solar energy for cooking in areas where energy resources are scarce. She has been a major booster of a new Sacred Heart school in Uganda.

According to Sam Sciortino, head of school at Villa Duchesne-Oak Hill, who spoke to the Press-Journal, “Soster Rives brightens the world of the less privileged through her ongoing gifts of clothing, supplies, prayer and genuine love. Her untiring efforts and passion for the well-being of others is an inspiration and motivation to all of us to share our gifts with others.”