Sister Mary Evelyn Zimbauer

Sister Mary Evelyn Zimbauer, SDS came to know the Sisters of the Divine Savior as her teachers at Holy Name School, while growing up in Wausau, Wis. Ultimately, it was nursing rather than teaching that dovetailed with her call to religious life. “Nursing is part of who I am along with being a Salvatorian Sister,” Sr. Mary Evelyn says. “My desire to help people and advocate for others is engrained.” For more than 20 years, Sr. Mary Evelyn worked at Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. She readily credits tremendous team spirit among her colleagues there for the joy and fulfillment she derived from nursing. Sr. Mary Evelyn’s cancer diagnosis in 2005 strengthened the compassion and empathy she brought to her longtime ministry. She says patients didn’t need to hear her story, but her own bout with serious illness, treatment and its lasting effects made her more attuned to her patient’s needs.

Her sensitivity to the needs of others is a trait she developed over her 60 years of nursing. Although retired from her long-time ministry, Sr. Mary Evelyn continues to zealously serve people and her community as a Provincial Councilor on the Leadership Team, weekend on-call nurse for her fellow sisters, and first aid responder at Milwaukee events. She celebrates 60 years of religious life in 2023.