Ursuline Sisters honor Vogelsang for service

This August, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Sister Darla Vogelsang, OSU, with a special liturgy and reception at the Motherhouse in Canfield.

“A 50th anniversary for anyone is a hallmark year. It is also an opportunity in prayer, gratitude and celebration to look back at the people and the opportunities that have formed me in religious life,” said Sister Darla. “And it’s a celebration of the Ursuline Sisters, as well — an opportunity for the community to celebrate the gift of religious life in the church.”

“The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown have been gifted with the vocation of Sister Darla Vogelsang, whose multiple gifts she has generously shared with all those whom she serves,” said Sister Nancy Dawson, General Superior of the Ursuline Sisters.

Sister Darla currently ministers as a Catholic Chaplain for Humility of Mary Health Partners at its St. Elizabeth, Boardman, and St. Joseph, Warren, campuses. Among her duties as a chaplain, she visits with new admissions of all denominations to provide spiritual care, either through the hospital or their own places of worship, offers prayer and support to patients and families in crisis situations, as well as the hospital staff.

She completed 1,600 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education with SUMMA Health Systems in Akron and in October 2010 received Board Certification as a Hospital Chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.

Prior to becoming a Chaplain, Sister Darla ministered 22 years in elementary education, working as a teacher at St. Patrick and Immaculate Conception Schools in Youngstown and as a principal at Immaculate Conception.

Sister Darla is the daughter of the late Donald J. Vogelsang, Kathleen Rowlands and her husband, the late George Rowlands, of Hubbard.

A June 1960 graduate of Ursuline High School, Sister Darla entered the Ursuline Sisters a few months later and began a year of postulancy. Sister Darla took her final vows Aug. 8, 1968.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Youngstown State University in 1964; a Master of Arts in Reading from The University of St. Francis, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1973; and a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University Chicago in 1988.