Celebrating the Columban Sisters Centenary Year.
Following its formation in Ireland in 1922, the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban was formally incorporated into the Church on September 29, 2024, making this year the official 100th anniversary of the Columban Sisters worldwide mission journey. This is the second in a two-part series of commemorative issues celebrating the Centenary year with an account of our ministry of care for the elderly at St. Columban’s on the Lake Retirement Home.
In 1924, the newly-arrived Columban Fathers began construction on a Tudor-Gothic style building on the shores of Lake Erie near Silver Creek, NY that served as a preparatory seminary for new missionary priests until the late 1960s. During this period the Fathers collaborated with the Columban Sisters, who came to Silver Creek in 1930 to assist with the operation of the seminary. When the seminary closed in 1968, the Columban Fathers gifted the landmark building and surrounding property to the Sisters, who
renovated the former seminary and opened St. Columban’s on the Lake Retirement Home. The Sisters had recognized a great community need for a home for elderly residents who could no longer live independently. Most residents came from the surrounding area attracted by the homelike environment, the beautiful setting and the quality care provided by the Sisters. The home opened on May 1, 1970 with Sister Corona Colleary serving as administrator from that day to the present time.
Creating A Legacy of Care
During the following decades, the retirement home led by Sister Corona developed a full professional staff, a large group of volunteers and a growing number of benefactors. The home has always been totally self-supporting, depending on resident fees and donations and receives no diocesan funding. The home has also continuously served as a source of support for the Sisters worldwide missions through fundraising appeals and events like the Spring Festival. This fundraiser was held for 60 consecutive years with all proceeds going to the Columban Sisters missions in faraway lands.
In the early 2000s, the Sisters consolidated all their mission activities in an expanded Mission Office located in Silver Creek.
Through the years, the Sisters have created a high quality legacy of care with an unwavering focus on the integrity of the programs, services and care of the elderly residents. With the help of fundraising campaigns supported by families, friends and benefactors they have established an endowment fund to ensure the future of the home and implemented many much needed capital improvements. The Sisters have also worked to secure grants and available funding to supplement their fundraising appeals. As a result of these combined efforts, they have been able to meet the challenges of maintaining their landmark building and keeping up to date with modern retirement living requirements.
Throughout its 54 years of operation, St. Columban’s on the Lake Retirement Home has provided a beautiful home for hundreds of elderly residents where the spirit of life and independence is an integral part of the retirement lifestyle, and where retirement living is enriched by the loving care and missionary spirit of the Columban Sisters.
Continuing Our Legacy
As the Columban Sisters look back on a century of service, we also look forward to continuing our mission journey and expanding our legacy in today’s challenging world. We have
recommitted ourselves to our ministries for marginalized people in our worldwide missions, as well as our ministry of care for the elderly in Silver Creek, NY. We send our prayers and blessings to all who have accompanied us through the years, and it
is with grateful hearts that we ask for your ongoing support.