ATLANTA--Four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet were honored in March for their many years of dedication and service to the community.

Sister Alice Joseph Brunegraff, CSJ, former teacher and administrator at St. Anthony School and Sacred Heart School in Atlanta, and St. Joseph School in Marietta, was honored for her 75 years as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet March 21, with a special Mass and celebration at Nazareth Living Center, the sisters' retirement center in St. Louis, Mo.

Sister Brunegraff was born in Minster, Ohio, received her bachelor's degree in English from the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on Jan. 7, 1923, at Mount St. Joseph in Augusta, Ga.

Aside from teaching in the Atlanta area, Sister Brunegraff was her community's assistant provincial superior at Mount St. Joseph Provincial House in Augusta from 1955-1961, and worked as a teacher and librarian from 1969-1990 at St. Francis Xavier, her home parish in Brunswick, Ga.

Although Sister Brunegraff is retired, she continues to serve the community through prayer.

"Even though my active ministry is over, I continue to pray daily for the needs of others as the Spirit urges me," she said.

Sister Celine Gorman, CSJ, celebrated 70 years as a sister on March 21 in St. Louis.

Sister Gorman, originally from Chicago, entered the order in Augusta in 1927. Aside from brief work in Minneapolis, Chicago and Miami, Sister Gorman served in Atlanta, first as a teacher and administrator at Sacred Heart for 23 years, and then as a staff member and eventual director of the religious education department at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

Sister Gorman is also retired and living at the Nazareth Living Center, and said that her love of Scripture and her desire to evangelize attracted her to religious life and has kept her faithful throughout the years.

Sister Anne Souto, CSJ, celebrated 50 years as a sister in St. Louis on March 14, and at a special reception held in Atlanta by the Knights of Columbus on March 22.

Sister Souto, a native of Mobile, Ala., worked from 1991 until her retirement in 1996 as an instructional aide for mentally retarded senior citizens at the DeKalb County Mental Retardation Center. Affectionately known as "Miss Annie" to her clients, Sister Souto gave in-service training and helped with her clients' craft work.

Sister Souto said that a desire to help those in need attracted her to religious life.

"I've always had a strong desire to teach little ones and serve the less fortunate," she said. "Eventually that desire led me to concentrate on working with the physically and mentally retarded among the elderly."

Sister Souto is now retired and living in Eatonton, Ga.

Also celebrating her 50th jubilee on March 14 was Sister Anna Bridget Kearns, CSJ. St. Francis Xavier Parish and School Community in Brunswick, where she teaches third grade, also honored her at a special Mass on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19. Various parish groups later presented her with a trip to Ireland.

A native of Augusta, Sister Kearns became a Sister of St. Joseph on March 19, 1948. Aside from nine years in Hawaii, three years in St. Louis and nine years in Roxbury, Mass. Sister Kearns taught school in Georgia, spending 15 years in Atlanta as a teacher at Sacred Heart and later as an administrator of Our Lady of Lourdes School and St. Anthony School. Sister Kearns also taught in Savannah, Valdosta and Brunswick.