GRAYLING- Every so often in life, we’re blessed to meet someone with such character and presence that the positive impression they leave on us just sticks.
Grayling’s own Sister Jean Umlor is that person, a woman of peaceful potency. Her work in the Grayling community has impacted decades of healthcare, introduced new and unique healing concepts, and connected resources to underserved women and families.
Growing up as the middle child of seven children on a farm in Conklin, Michigan, Jean knew she wanted to be a nurse since fourth grade. She is the only sibling not working in agriculture.
Growing up, Jean recalled her mom, Rose, in her garden. Always growing or taking care of something. The apple doesn’t fall far from the nurturing (fruit) tree, it seems. Jean has had a heart for others since she was a child.
Remembering her dad, Walter, Jean smiles faintly as she shares a wisdom he imparted to her: “’Leave a place better than you find it.’ I always aim to do that everywhere I go,” Jean said.
So she chose a slightly different path: Becoming a Sister of Mercy with the aim of nurturing women to achieve a full life. Jean later committed to the nine-year journey to become a nun.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota in Nursing, Jean went on to get her master of administration from the University of Iowa, and at one time she was the director of nursing for Mercy Hospital.
Not one to love office time or paperwork, Jean would sneak down to the ER when she got bored.
“There was always something to do there” she smiled, sharing how she balanced her job with her passion for people.
Jean celebrated her 60th year as a Sister of Mercy. She has been solid in her faith walk and spirituality, a role model and guide to many by living in partnership with people through peace and grace.
Having studied energy medicine when traveling to China and Mongolia earlier in her career, Jean reached a turning point in her journey when the American Holistic Nurses Association started to bring credibility to energy medicine and how it affects the body and can be used as a healing therapy.
Bringing Healing Touch (energy medicine) to Mercy hospital helped improve staff satisfaction, patient outcomes and morale.
Jean moved to Grayling in 1995, answering the call to assess community health care needs and to start Hospice and In-home Health care services, which didn’t exist in Grayling at that time.
A long-time member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, Jean brought new holistic concepts and practices to Grayling and former Mercy Hospital that positively impacted patients and their healing, with documented and credible results.
In co-operation with the Sisters of Mercy, she created the healing garden and helped build the labyrinth at the hospital, bringing yoga and tai chi to the hospital with the partnership of other instructors.
“I’ve done things to nurture healthcare, nurture women (and) to nurture the church,” she said. “These things have (also) nurtured my soul.”
In touch with the unspoken needs of women in the community, Sister Jean envisioned a circle for women to gather, where they would share an in the oral tradition of the “passing of wisdom.” She created the monthly Wisdom of Women circle, now in its 21st year of connecting and enriching the lives of women of all ages.
When asked what kept her going through all the seasons of learning, working, teaching, gathering resources and connecting dots, Jean said, “I kept doing what is good for women. Women need a community of support so they can claim the fullness of their roles in life. Supporting women creates safe, energized (people who positively) impact lives beyond (their own).”
Among her other works, Jean is a supporter of Riverhouse Women’s Shelter in Grayling. Her women’s circle has collected materials for them for years.
At 87, Jean looks at life through a changing lens. She faces her next season with courage. taking steps to do what needs to be done next “because it is the right thing to do.”
Her willingness to discipline itself, living kindly and in service, is testament to a woman who freely shares what she has learned in hopes to strengthen others.
Our community and the women touched by her work would agree: We ARE better than when she found us.
