November 2005 - Sister Mary Sheila Higdon, OSU

The Current River slides gently beneath the U.S. highway 60 bridge at Van Buren, Missouri, a tiny river town of 843 souls located in south central Missouri. The spring-fed river and the steep hills carpeted with thick stands of oak, hickory, cedar and pine form the picturesque heart of the Ozarks National Scenic Waterways. The largest of many springs, Big Spring, pouring 276 million gallons of water a day into the Current River, is located just four miles from Van Buren.

In this area, a land of big trees and a Big Spring, where Catholics comprise less than 3% of the population, the presence of the Catholic Church can be found in the person of Sister Mary Sheila Higdon, OSU. In years past,she was either teacher or principal in towns in Missouri, Kentucky, and Nebraska. Now living in Van Buren, she has fallen in love with her work as pastoral associate at St. George mission parish, a Catholic community of 50 families, swollen during the summer by the hundreds of canoeists that flock to the Current River to float and enjoy one of the most beautiful streams in the country. Both resident and visitor find a warm, welcoming presence in the person of Sister Sheila.

In the Ozarks, where people as well as parishes are miles apart, Sister Sheila is often the face of the Catholic Church. She travels the backroads to visit shut-ins. She comforts and helps those who seek her counsel and assistance. On weekends, especially, she gets around! She's the welcoming smile at the 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Masses at St. Catherine of Siena and Our Lady of Sorrows in Piedmont and Williamsville respectively. Sunday morning she's greeting those coming to the 8:00 a.m. Mass in Van Buren and then does the same again at 11:00 in Piedmont, 40 minutes away on a hilly, winding Ozarks by-way.

She serves as church decorator, liturgical coordinator and bible study leader. In the wider community she actively participates in the senior nutrition center outreach program and also serves as the secretary of the ministerial alliance. Especially dear to her heart are the RCIA classes, not only in Van Buren but in Piedmont and Williamsville, the three parishes that serve three of the poorest counties in south central Missouri.

Sister Sheila, a spry 75-year-old, has a heart as big as the country she inhabits. Though she sometimes misses not being able to live with members of her religious community she finds comfort in the generosity and goodness of the people whom she serves. "To them (the Ozarks residents), taking time for family life is important," she muses. "They possess a relaxed calmness that comes from living in such a beautiful part of the country." More than she might realize, she reflects that same calmness and that same outpouring of spirit reflected by the daily outpouring of Big Spring. Catholic Extension supporters help make her presence - and the Church's - possible in this picturesque region.

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