Maryknoll Sister Mary Louise Higa
Maui-born Maryknoll sister small of stature, great of heart
This “Letter of appreciation” was read Aug. 18 at the funeral of Sister Mary Louise Higa, a Maui-born Maryknoll Sister who died at Maryknoll, New York, on July 24. It was edited for length and clarity.
In the life of Sister Mary Louise (Hideko) Higa and her older deceased Maryknoll sister, Bernadette (Shigeko) Higa, we read the marvelous story of how grace worked and moved. God attracted two young women in a Buddhist family of Okinawan origin, born in Hawaii, to Christianity and to religious life in Maryknoll.
Their mission careers took them to places where they met, learned and appreciated diversity. Bernadette, two years older than Mary Louise, was honored here at her death in March, 2019. Today her sister’s life recalls for us the same story of enthusiasm for Jesus’ invitation to follow him.
Hideko, the ninth of 14 children of Kame Miyashiro and Ushi Higa, was born April 24, 1927, in Kaupakalua, Maui. Her sisters Mildred and Theodora and many nieces and nephews survive her.
The sisters attended public grade school in Kaupakalua. Mary Lou graduated in June 1941. While there, they attended religion classes which were their first introduction to Catholic belief.
Here years at Maui High School were disrupted by the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. During this time, Bernie introduced Mary Lou to Maryknoll Sister Anna McAnany who helped her with her spiritual journey. Mary Lou, following in Bernie’s footsteps, was baptized in March 1945. She graduated June 12, 1945.
Mary Lou worked as a nurse’ aide at St. Francis Hospital until September, when she could enroll at its school of nursing. She obtained her R.N. and worked for another year at the hospital. Both sisters discovered they had a similar interest in applying to Maryknoll. In 1951, they entered the Maryknoll Sisters novitiate in Valley Park, Missouri. At the reception of the habit, Mary Lou received the name of Sister Regina Therese.
After profession in 1953, her first assignment was to the infirmary at Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York. She was among the sisters who cared for Mother Mary Joseph until her death in 1955.
Sister’s first overseas assignment was to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where she joined other Maryknoll sisters in the government general hospital. In 1959, the sisters were asked to terminate their service there because of political issues, but not before Mary Louise made her final vows on Sept. 8, 1959.
Another invitation offered the sisters the opportunity to begin a medical clinic and maternity nursing home in a neighboring diocese. To help her in this ministry, Mary Lou studied midwifery from the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Drogheda, Ireland.
While Mary Lou was studying, the government of Ceylon stopped renewing the residence visas of all ex-patriates. She returned to Maryknoll for a brief ministry in Bethany Convent.
She arrived in Hong Kong in January of 1964 for her next assignment, supervisor of a maternity/labor ward. At Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, she designed a follow-up home-care program.
In 1975, Mary Lou felt she needed formal preparation in pastoral counselling, since she found herself being called upon to fill this role. After study at Chaminade College, Honolulu, she returned to Hong Kong and for the next 10 years ministered in the pastoral care department.
In 1987, Mary Lou did congregational service in the archives department and in 1991 was welcomed to the Central Pacific Region where she volunteered at an agency serving persons with HIV-AIDS. Another new ministry was visiting the Women’s Correctional Community Center. Of this experience, she said, “here the women acknowledged that they wanted to be understood, accepted, listened to, trusted. … they wanted to count for something.”
The Higa sisters rented a small house in Wahiawa, Oahu, with Sister Isabel Rabbon in June 2000. This was a most happy time, sharing in neighborhood ministry and at the general hospital nearby. When renting was no longer possible, the two sisters moved to the Maryknoll retirement house in Monrovia, California, in 2006 until 2011, when Bernie went to our center house for health reasons. In 2015 Mary Lou also returned to the center where she was companion, proxy and advocate for Bernadette until her death on March 12, 2019.
In 2021, Mary Lou celebrated her 70th anniversary with Maryknoll, marking it with these words: “I did not expect to be living to celebrate my 70th anniversary. Yes, indeed, it was a great day with much gratitude and blessings. In the absence of Bernie, I continued her memory by wearing her Hawaiian muumuu and the kukui lei symbolizing Hawaiian blessings. Over 70 years God molded and remolded my life with his loving mercy for growth and change so that I could follow in his footsteps. I am deeply grateful to my parents, my family members; to the people in ministries where I served, and who are now the woven fabric of my life’s journey.”
We marvel at this woman, small of stature, great of heart. Her habit of noting needs, planning how to meet them, and working at the task until it was in working shape, made a marvelous pattern of follow-through. Mary Lou, we thank your God with you for a life well lived!
