Fonds 028 - Patricia Forestell

Reverend Sister Mary Patricia Forestell was born on October 2, 1936 in Coniston, Ontario to Daniel Clary Forestell and Helena Jane Forestell, nee Smith (Lena Forestell). The Forestell family first moved to Coniston in 1914 for work with the Mond Nickel Company, and later INCO. The youngest of eleven children (three of which died during the second world war), Sister Patricia Forestell received her early education at Our Lady of Mercy School in Coniston, before graduating from St. Joseph's College in North Bay, Ontario. It was during these years that she participated in the Girl Guides. She was a member of the 1st Coniston Girl Guide Company where she was part of the Blue Bird Patrol and later of the Lone Company at St. Joseph's College. After finishing her studies at St. Joseph's College, she travelled to Franklin, Pennsylvania where she entered the order of the White Sisters of Africa. Her first posting after taking her final vows was to North Africa, where she spent two years administering to the sick in Algiers at a hospital. Following this posting, Sister Patricia received a degree in nursing from the University of Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. After graduating, she spent time with her family in Coniston, before returning to Africa where she was in charge of a hospital in Nandom, Ghana. Sister Patricia Forestell returned to the United States in April 1968 due to her failing health. She died of cancer on March 16, 1969 in Piscataway [New Brunswick], New Jersey at the age of thirty-two. She is buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Coniston, Ontario.