Mary Carmen Flores, RGS
October 16, 1942 – December 3, 2022
Sister Mary Carmen Flores passed over into the arms of our Good Shepherd late in the evening of Saturday, December 3, 2022, after a two-week struggle following a major stroke. She was 80 years old and had lived as a vowed Religious of the Good Shepherd for 54 years.
In many ways, her difficult dying process was characteristic of her life. Her personality was passionate and dramatic. She gave her all to whatever she undertook. Excitement swirled around her, and she was a natural comic.
Carmen’s life was not one of ease and calm. Along with her devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, she will be remembered for her tenaciousness, personal warmth, deep desire for connectedness with others, and the gift of making and keeping friends.
Carmen Lee was born in a Hispanic family in Rock Island, Illinois. Her only siblings having died in infancy, she bitterly regretted being an only child, although the presence of many cousins in town partially compensated for this loss. Family relationships remained important to her throughout her life.
Her parents were hard-working, practical and frugal, traits which were passed down to Carmen as well. Much of her early nurturing and religious understanding came from her grandmother.
Although she had many friends, Carmen did not enjoy school. She lacked confidence and described herself as somewhat shy. It was the work of her lifetime to begin to appreciate her own intelligence, which was exemplified in her keen powers of observation, practical applications, and finding ways to accomplish things that seemed to be beyond her resources.
Following her graduation from high school, Carmen moved to California to develop her independence. She lived with relatives, worked in a bank, and gradually acquired more confidence.
It seems that God had a very definite plan for Carmen. Her story of how she came to Good Shepherd is one-of-a-kind. When she was beginning to discern her vocation, her pastor gave her “the book” with descriptions of many Congregations. Carmen had not confided in her family or friends and was trying to study the book secretly during lunch at work. A nosy co-worker caught her at it, grabbed the book and immediately flipped to show her the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. This young woman had been a resident at House of the Good Shepherd in Los Angeles, had benefitted greatly, had great admiration and love for the Sisters, and encouraged Carmen to check them out. The rest is history. She was given the name Sr. Mary Jude and made her first vows in Los
Angeles in 1968.
Sr. Carmen followed a typically challenging trajectory as a Good Shepherd Sister, with frequent moves to fill in wherever needed. Her assignments included residential care for teenage girls in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Memphis.
She excelled as a Group Leader and kept in touch with some of her girls throughout her life. She also ministered in residential care for women at Maria Droste Residence in St. Louis and at Good Shepherd Shelter in Los Angeles, where she worked with the babies and children.
She earned an Associate in Applied Science in Human Services degree at St. Louis Community College in 1990 and received numerous certificates for workshops and on-going training. Carmen finished her Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles in 2001.
On April 24, 2002, she received a special award from the Institute for Student Academic Enrichment at Mount St. Mary’s. This Perseverance Award was “proudly awarded to Sr. Carmen Flores for consistently demonstrating unconquerable tenacity and perseverance.” This award sums up her character very well.
Carmen was quiet about all her achievements and did not think she was good at things, but she was hardworking and persevered in whatever she was asked to do.
For over a decade in the early 2000’s, the focus of Carmen’s ministry changed. She expressed her vow of zeal as a labor of love in caring for her mother and father in their old age. After her mother’s death, Carmen was glad to “get back into the loop” of community life. She was missioned to Good Shepherd Services Community in Baltimore in 2014 and began to enjoy some of the happiest years of her religious life, collaborating with Partner-in-Mission Teresa Jones in the Family Enrichment program there. Teresa and Carmen stimulated each other’s zeal and humor; they were always joyful and laughing.
Carmen enjoyed a sabbatical and then moved to Danville, Pennsylvania, along with most of the Baltimore community after Good Shepherd Services closed in 2017. Highlights of her later years included celebrating her Golden Jubilee in Los Angeles in 2018, along with her bandmates Sisters Anne Kelley, Mary Charlotte Kirst, and Mary Stella Mangona, as well as participating in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2020.
Carmen moved to the Personal Care section in Maria Hall at Danville following surgery in the summer of 2022. She quickly became a favorite among the staff. Her unexpected stroke cast a pall over the house. She will be greatly missed.
Carmen’s funeral coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, her dearest devotion. Even Carmen couldn’t have planned the timing better!
by Mary Carol McClenon, RGS | February 2023