By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DELHI TOWNSHIP - Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Anna Gertrude Delaney ministered to the needs of the poor in rural Georgia.

She served with a sense of joy and the ability to see the people she worked with as human beings with dignity, rather than people who had nothing.

Sister Anna Gertrude, a Sister of Charity for 74 years, died Friday at Mother Margaret Hall nursing Home in Delhi Township. She was 95.

Born in Ottawa, Canada, she was a "very gentle, very prayerful person," said Sister of Charity Jean Evelyn Durbin. "She was also a good buddy."

Sister Anna Gertrude (formerly known as Sister Daniel Marie) was a teacher in Ohio and New Mexico for 39 years before switching to medical office work in 1970. But she eventually found the ministry in which she felt most comfortable - serving the poor.

"This change has given me the peace and contentment I needed at this period in my life," she said at the time.

Her work included serving hot meals to elderly people who were confined to their homes, visiting nursing homes, and collecting and distributing food and clothing.

Sister Anna Gertrude earned a bachelor's degree in education from the Athenaeum of Ohio and a bachelor's in English from the College of Mount St. Joseph. She returned to the classroom at St. Bernadette School in Amelia from 1976 to 1980 before moving to Savannah, Ga. She retired to Mother Margaret Hall in 1989.

Survivors include a sister, Julia Bennett of Plymouth, Mich., and nieces and nephews.

Services have been held.

Memorials: Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Retirement Fund, 5900 Delhi Road, Mount St. Joseph, OH 45051.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com

Lives remembered