Sister Pauline Tursi, CHM, a former president of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, hospital president and CEO, and educator, died Jan. 11 at Genesis Medical Center’s East Campus in Davenport, following a brief illness. She was 68.
Born in Colón USA/Panama, she entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) on Sept. 8, 1958, and professed vows July 28, 1961. Sr. Tursi received an A.A. in liberal arts from Ottumwa Heights College; a B.A. in mathematics from Marycrest College in Davenport; an M.S. in hospital administration from the University of Notre Dame; and a certificate in theology and spirituality from the Franciscan Renewal Center in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Sr. Tursi began her seven-year teaching ministry at Our Lady of Lourdes in Bettendorf in 1963. She also taught at Aquinas High School in Fort Madison and elsewhere in Iowa. She was an administrative assistant for four years at St. Joseph Hospital in Ottumwa before serving as president and CEO from 1986-87 and then as senior vice president of Ottumwa Regional Health Center after St. Joseph and Ottumwa hospitals merged.
She served the congregation as treasurer from 1976-82 and as president from 1988-96. She was office manager for the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in Des Moines from 2001-07. In 2008 she served as CHM acting finance director.
Funeral services were scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at the Humility of Mary Center, Magnificat Chapel, in Davenport. Burial will be at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Davenport. A memorial prayer service will be offered at 7 p.m., Jan. 19, at Bishop Drumm Retirement Center, Our Lady of Peace Chapel, in Johnston.
