Obituary: Brenda Anderson, SCN, 75, Louisville

Brenda Anderson, SCN, 75, of Louisville, died Dec. 3, 2022 in Louisville. She formerly was Sister Mary Brenda. She was born in Lebanon Nov. 23, 1947, the eldest of five daughters. She was a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth for 37 years.

In grade school and at Presentation Academy, she was taught by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and felt called to become an SCN. On Sept. 8, 1965, she entered the novitiate at Nazareth. However, she experienced severe homesickness and withdrew. For the next 16 years, Brenda worked while earning a master’s degree in education from Spalding College in Louisville. She taught third, fourth, and fifth grades at Sts. Simon & Jude in Louisville with the Dominican Sisters for 14 years.

Over the years, she kept in touch with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and felt she still had a vocation. After attending a hospitality weekend at Nazareth, she began plans to re-enter the Congregation and did so in June 1982, making final vows in 1985.

For her first ministry as an SCN, she returned to Sts. Simon and Jude to teach fourth grade.

She also served in health care. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She was a nurse assistant and later a registered nurse at the St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, Ark.

She assisted her SCN Community in many ways. Early in her vocation, she operated the Motherhouse switchboard. Years later, she used her health care education to provide nursing care to the sisters living in the Motherhouse at Nazareth. She served as a driver for the sisters for 16 years. She was a staff assistant at the Catherine Spalding Retreat Center from 1995-1999.

She was also involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. She participated in the annual MS Walk in Louisville for many years. She helped to raise awareness and was a top fundraiser.

She is survived by four sisters, Wanda Chambers, Joycelene Phipps, Janice Heady and Patricia Eddington; by her extended family; and her religious community, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

The Funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 9, 2022, with burial in the Nazareth Cemetery.

The wake is 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, at St. Vincent de Paul Church.

Memorial donations may go to the Office of Mission Advancement, P.O. Box 9, Nazareth, Kentucky. 40048; or to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The Ratterman Funeral Home in Louisville is in charge of arrangements.

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