Holy Cross Ministries of Utah to say goodbye to its last Holy Cross sister as she retires

Courtesy photo/HCM

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Holy Cross Sisters Mary Ann Pajakowski (left) and Veronica Fajardo, who have both served with Holy Cross Ministries of Utah for many years, are leaving Utah. Sr. Mary Ann is retiring and Sr. Veronica is taking a role with the congregation’s general leadership.

SALT LAKE CITY — Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski, CSC, who served as Holy Cross Ministries’ education director for more than 27 years, will be leaving Utah in September. Although Sr. Mary Ann officially retired two years ago, she has been serving on various HCM committees and acting as a mentor for her successor, Miriam Nieto, and others in the organization.

Moving on from the diocese will be hard, said Sr. Mary Ann, who is originally from South Bend, Ind. Her departure will also mean the end of the presence of the Holy Cross sisters in the organization.

“The handwriting is on the wall in terms of availability of sisters and so, years back, we knew that was the case,” she said. “So you try to not only make room for people to go up in the organization and pursue responsibilities and have opportunities, you also, at the same time, are trying to support the legacy and mission of the Sisters of the Holy Cross so that can be carried forward.”

The Sisters of the Holy Cross first came to Utah in 1875 at the request of Father Lawrence Scanlan (later the first Bishop of Salt Lake), who asked them to found a school. After St. Mary of the Assumption School opened in September of that year, the sisters turned their attention to caring for injured miners and railroad workers and established what became Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City. When the hospital was sold in 1994, the sisters used the funds to create Holy Cross Ministries to respond to the needs of underrepresented communities in Utah. It was at that time that Sr. Mary Ann came to the Beehive State.

“Holy Cross Ministries knew that they wanted to do some service for immigrants in the ’90s, and at the time there weren’t a lot of services like ESL and basic orientation [on] what’s it like to live in America, in the United States, so I was the education piece,” she said.

Sr. Mary Ann went on to fill several more roles in the organization as its mission expanded. Along the way she touched many lives.

“It’s just been a wonderful place to do ministry, and most of it is the people that you work with and the people that we’re able to serve, and the respect that we give to them,” she said.

Her mentor’s shoes have been tough to fill, said Nieto, who is now the organization’s education director.

“Working with Sr. Mary Ann, the one thing I always keep in my mind is how humble she is, because she’s very quiet about all the amazing things she has accomplished, but she gets things done, and she’s a person that looks at what’s happening out there, what’s the need for the community, and [when] she gets an idea, and I can tell you it’s going to happen,” Nieto said.

Ensuring the mission of the Sisters of the Holy Cross continues is a responsibility Nieto takes very seriously.

“This way of just leading with passion, with love, with kindness – I think it’s a huge responsibility; that’s how I see it,” she said. “It is a responsibility in the way that we will have to make sure we continue with that legacy, that they are not forgotten, regardless of their presence physically.”

Another Holy Cross Ministries staff member who has been mentored by Sr. Mary Ann is Director of Finance Jessica Lerma Suarez. Lerma Suarez was first introduced to the organization in the 2000s as a client and began to volunteer there shortly after. Eventually she was hired in 2012 as the front desk manager and has since made her way up in the organization to her current position.

“It is a profound honor and a significant responsibility that I will embrace with deep respect to continue the sisters’ mission,” she said. “It means that I need to embody their values in every decision and every action and then every interaction I make out there with clients, with staff, with the community. Their legacy, you know, is the commitment to service that they have and to compassion. You can see it in every action they do, and I strive to follow that legacy.”

Along with Nieto and Lerma Suarez, the other staff members at HCM will miss Sr. Mary Ann and the sisters who have served there over the years.

“We as the lay staff at Holy Cross Ministries are sad to be losing Sr. Mary Ann as well as Sr. Veronica, yet happy Sr. Mary Ann can move back to her old stomping grounds and be nearer her family,” Holy Cross Ministries CEO Emmie Gardner said.

Sister Veronica Fajardo, CSC, who has been serving as a Holy Cross Ministries counselor, is also leaving Utah to assume a role with the Sisters of the Holy Cross general leadership. (See the story in the Aug. 16 Intermountain Catholic.)

“While this change marks the first time in our organization’s history that we will not have sisters on staff, we are blessed that through Sr. Mary Ann’s 27 years of service, she has been a role model of our social justice mission in action,” Gardner added. “We as laity will now assume and carry on the incredible legacy of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. We look forward to potentially hosting novices at HCM in 2025 as they discern their ministry interests, and are thankful that we will continue to have the sisters’ presence and sage guidance through four board of director positions.”