2015 - Sr. Geraldine Brake MM '65

Sr. Gerri Brake '65 was presented the Angela Boyle Award for Service. Below is a commendation that was awarded to Gerri from the government of Panama, where she has returned to her ministry there after a few years back in the States helping with the elderly at Maryknoll.

Hundreds petitioned Panama to honor Sr. Gerri, shown with Vice President Juan Carlos Varela. After months of hard work, Sister Gerri was able to fulfill a great dream: to establish a home for the elderly in Panama. These seniors needed safety and community. In Balboa, Sister Gerri's New Life Center opened to welcome 80 elderly people who now had a home. Sister Gerri will forever have a home in Panama, too. In early July, Panama's democratically-elected government honored Sister Gerri with the Vasco Nunez de Balboa Award. Named for the Spanish explorer who crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, the Balboa Award is the country's highest civilian honor. At a ceremony in Panama on July 2, Sister Gerri accepted the award from Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, who's also Panama's foreign minister. The award cited Sister Gerri's "unconditional and total dedication" in her work with the most vulnerable in Panama. Sister Gerri's philosophy of life is simple but powerful: "Whenever one shares, one receives more. My life is much happier when I am sharing and giving to others." Almost 400 men and women in Panama petitioned the government on Sister Gerri's behalf. Sister Geraldine Brake "I look forward to savoring more of life through the gifts of friendship and intimacy with God - the source of all love. I desire to continue to adapt to another culture and people and be of service for many years."

Sister Geraldine was born in Wilmington, Del., one of twelve children of Harry and Jennie Brake. After graduation from Ursuline Academy, she entered the Maryknoll Sisters in 1966. She received her B.A. in Community Service from Mary Rogers College at Maryknoll, New York. Sister Gerri's first mission was in Nicaragua, where she started work in 1972. After these first nine eventful years, the insurrection of 1979 and the toppling of Somoza's regime and the deaths of close friends killed in El Salvador in 1980, Sister Gerri returned to the United States. In 1981-1982, Sister Gerri studied at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD, and earned an M.S. in pastoral counseling. She then became part of the Maryknoll Sisters formation team and worked with young women entering the Congregation for the first time. She was assigned to Panama in January of 1989, looking forward to use her experience in spiritual counseling and formation as a staff member of the Panama Archdiocese's Department of Vocations and Ministries. Sister Gerri did this work for less than a year when, on December 20, 1989, the U.S. Army invaded Panama in an attempt to replace President Manuel Antonio Noriega. The shelling forced many Panamanians to flee their homes. They took refuge at Gorgas Hospital and Balboa High School. Sister Gerri and five other Maryknoll Sisters aided the refugees by coordinating food and medical supplies, serving as translators, and caring for the elderly among the refugees.

Sister Gerri's work with the homeless elderly continued 15 years later, when she worked with many in Panama who lost their homes when the town of El Chorrillo was bombed and destroyed by fire during the invasion. In conjunction with various churches and civic groups, Sister Gerri has worked on a project to develop a residence for the elderly poor called Nueva Vida, or Foundation of New Life. Now, Sister Gerri works with the elderly in a different setting--the Maryknoll Residential Care Center in New York. As administrator of the Maryknoll Sisters Residential Care, Sister Gerri is responsible for the elder care of the retired Maryknoll Sisters who live there.