At age 95, Sister Rose Marita won't be kept from her kitchen

SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. (AP) - The smell of banana bread permeated the Providence Hall activity room kitchen as Sister Rose Marita Riordan indulged in one of her passions.

She loves to bake, and on Wednesdays, the small kitchen is hers.

She'll spend hours making the coveted baked goods, and she does it from scratch.

On this day, she began at 4:45 a.m. and made different batches of banana bread - some with cranberries, others with raisins or nuts. "I was looking for my chocolate chips - they weren't there," she said. "They are very good with chocolate chips. It's one of the favorites here."

Early afternoon, she still wasn't done, although she had taken breaks for prayer and lunch. "We had a lot of very ripe bananas" that had to be used, she said, explaining her long day.

When she's done, some of the loaves are sold at Linden Leaf Gifts in the Providence Spirituality & Conference Center, and others she distributes to the Sisters of Providence, who look forward to her tasty treats.

What might be hard to believe is that the energetic, and even spunky Sister Rose Marita, is age 95, and in October, she received the news that her colon cancer had returned. The former teacher and school principal - who has been a Sister of Providence for 77 years - has chosen not to undergo treatment and is under hospice care.

Yet every Wednesday, she's back in the kitchen, hard at work. "It's a good life," she said, cheerfully, as she takes a pause from mashing bananas, cracking eggs and measuring flour.

___

She stands less than 5 feet tall and might appear frail, yet her energy in the kitchen remains boundless, and there's no question who's in charge.

"I do have energy. A lot of sisters tell me, say, can I have some of your energy? I say no, because then I won't have any. So I don't pass it on to anybody," she laughs.

A Chicago native, Sister Rose Marita was born on May 2, 1921 and entered the Sisters of Providence congregation on Jan. 5, 1939. She spent 50 years in education and served as a principal at schools in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. In 1990, she returned to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, where she spent many years ministering at the former Woods Day Care/Pre-school.

She continues to volunteer as a greeter two days a week at the Providence Spirituality and Conference Center.

At age 7, as she received her First Communion, Sister Rose Marita already knew the path her life would take. "I wanted to do what my teacher was doing ... by teaching and becoming a sister," she said.

She's had a full life, but what's been most fulfilling to her is "my spiritual life with Saint Mother Theodore - that's what's going to get me to heaven ... She will introduce me to the saints when I die."

But not yet. "I have a burst of energy, so I'm going to use it," she said.

Someone who has come to know Sister Rose Marita over the past three months is Kathy Ritter, a nurse with Hospice of the Wabash Valley.

"She never complains and faces everything positively," Ritter said. "She knows what will happen, she knows where she will go and she is ready."

But Sister Rose Marita is in no hurry to meet her Maker. "She has a very good attitude and outlook on life ... I love to visit her," said Ritter, who draws inspiration from her patient.

If Ritter has had a tough day, Sister Rose Marita helps her find peace. "I take a deep breath and regroup and I'm able to finish," Ritter said. "She has that effect on people."

Ritter also has learned much about the Catholic faith from Sister Rose Marita. "I think she had done more for me than I have for her."

While Sister Rose Marita is energized by her baking on Wednesdays, she does get tired and naps frequently, said Ritter, a certified hospice palliative care nurse, who sees her patient once a week.

"She is a wonderful woman," who finds time to send other people cards and letters. "Every time I think about her, she makes me smile," Ritter said.

Karen Hoffman, a student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, has gotten to know Sister Rose Marita through a sister/student companion program. They might bake together, or play bingo. "I usually bake with her on Sunday afternoons when both of our schedules allow it. She also works at the front desk of Providence Center, so sometimes I will just sit and talk with her there," Hoffman said.

They also have gone to Mass and Taize prayer service together. "She is a very hard-working woman that never complains. She always gives of herself to others," Hoffman said. "She has taught me to be more generous and caring ... as well as how to make bread better."

___

If you ask Sister Rose Marita how she's feeling, she'll tell you, "Great ... I'm not suffering." When necessary, she'll take Tylenol, sometimes with codeine, which "takes care of any pain."

She was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013 and had surgery; at that time, doctors were able to get all of the cancer. But last October, she learned the unfortunate news that it had returned, and in November, she received the Sacrament of the Sick.

Other Sisters of Providence "all gathered in the chapel with me," she said. "It was great ... I had such a good group with me." She believes it gave her the strength to keep going.

The sacrament is given by a priest to strengthen a person who is sick or about to have surgery.

She chose not to undergo chemotherapy because "it's a miserable year ... and you want to have good years before you die," as much as possible, she said.

Sister Rose Marita doesn't know how much time she has left - to bake bread, read novels and pray.

But whatever it is, she plans to "live each day fully ... Every day is a gift." She is not sad, and looks forward to the next life, where she is "anxious to see family and friends again."

She draws her strength from "God's love, and our good old Mother Theodore. I'm sure she's watching over us."

Sister Rose Marita has taken a break to answer some questions, but now, she needs to get back to the business at hand, baking banana bread, this time, with raisins. She enjoys it in part"because it gives pleasure to a lot of sisters and lay people."

She even talked about maybe "sneaking in here tomorrow to do the Irish Soda bread." After all, her goods are in serious demand.

The sisters "would like them every night," she said. And while she's eager to please, "There's a limit."

___

Source: (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star, http://bit.ly/2kOimT9

___

Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com