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Mercy Bids Farewell to Sister Barbara
Jun 28, 2007 
After 14 years of outstanding service, Sister Barbara Gentry, Chaplain, retired from Mercy Hospice & Palliative Care on June 28th to the cheers and tears of her friends and co-workers.
And though there were edibles galore at the party thrown in her honor, their sweetness was no match for those moments when colleague after colleague rose to tell stories—funny and poignant—of how Sister Barbara had given of herself to bring comfort to Mercy’s dying patients and their loved ones.
Yet to hear this member of the Adrian Dominican Order of nuns tell it, it was she who received, and abundantly. “These 14 years,” reflects Sister Barbara, “I have been honored into the presence of our patients at one of the closest of all times—when they face the last chapter of life’s drama.”
“And rather than feeling like a witness at an ending,” she explains, “I’ve more often felt like a midwife at a beginning: as the dying patient is born into a new world of endless light.”
Characteristically, Sister Barbara’s own story of giving will not end with her retirement. This September, she begins as a volunteer reading tutor for students at Myrtle Beach Elementary School.
To which we can only say: Well done good and faithful servant.
