Our Leadership Team

Sister Bonnie entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie after leaving her position as an Industrial Nurse with the International Nickel Company in Sudbury,

As a Registered Nurse she was assigned to Health Care ministry in North Bay, Elliot Lake, Blind River,Thunder Bay and Sudbury prior to being elected to congregational leadership in 2002.

Sister Bonnie graduated with a Licentiate degree in Canon Law from Saint Paul University, Ottawa. She was reelected as General Superior in 2014 and continues to support religious congregations and Catholic hospitals in the areas of canon law and administration.  

Email: bmaclellan@csjssm.ca
 

Marlene Roy’s life with The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie began in June 2006.  Following a career in administrative support, primarily in schools in North Bay, Ontario and Plymouth, England, she joined the staff at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse as the Executive Assistant to the General Superior.  She says the experience of coming to work for the congregation was like coming home and much to her surprise changed her life dramatically.  Responding to God’s call, she entered religious life in August 2009 as a not so young novice bringing her experiences of being a mother and grandmother with her.  Love of family and friends has grown to include the wonderful women of this religious community.
 
Work and ministry since entering religious life has included providing administrative support to the Executive Director of the Family Enrichment Centre in Sudbury, Ontario, active engagement with our Associate Program, and a return to the position of Executive Assistant to the General Superior.   Equally important is continuing to be actively involved in loving, caring and sharing life with family and friends.
 

Sister Bonnie Chesser grew up in a small mining town, Falconbridge, outside Sudbury.  She did not have a separate school in her town, so her first contact with Sisters was in high school, at Marymount College in Sudbury, where she met her first joy-filled music teacher, Sister Irene Morrow. Her first years in ministry were as a piano teacher.  From there she combined her music ministry with parish work.  Later her excitement for walking with people recovering from their addictions led her to expand her ministry. Presently she is retired from a formal job, and continues to serve on a volunteer basis.
 
Sister Bonnie Chesser has been a Sister of St. Joseph for 60 years and has been very blessed in her life.
 

Growing up in North Bay, Sister Cecily Hewitt was in contact with sisters throughout her grade and high school years. After completing this education she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, attended North Bay Teachers College subsequently teaching in Blind River, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. Following the completion of a graduate degree in Speech Language Pathology she practiced in Thunder Bay, North Bay and the North West Territories. During those years she also participated in professional, church and social justice groups, placing special emphasis on disability issues.
Sister Cecily then returned to North Bay to serve a term on the Leadership Team. She then located to Thunder Bay where, now retired she spreads her time between membership on the Leadership Team, several boards, church committees and services and volunteering with the Mission to Seafarers Port of Thunder Bay.