The Heart of Mercy:
A Legacy Unlike Any Other

After 26 years of service as the Vice President of Mission Integration for Mercy Hospitals, Sister Judy Morasci, RSM, announced that she would retire on Jan. 1, 2021. In addition to being the central figure of the hospitals’ mission for over two decades, she has served the Sisters of Mercy for 61 years.

Judy Morasci was born in San Francisco, and attended St. Peters Academy where the Sisters of Mercy taught. She was struck by the compassion and tenderness of the Sisters, especially toward the poor, women and children. One of the Sisters saw in young Judy a spirit that mirrors that of those serving in the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order founded in Ireland in 1831 by Catherine McAuley. On August 14, 1959, two months after graduating from high school, she moved to Burlingame and the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy where she entered the Novitiate.

After she took her vow in 1962, she used her gifts in education to teach at St. Lawrence in Bakersfield, St. Peters in San Francisco, and finally as principal at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bakersfield. She was later called back to Burlingame to serve as the supervisor of Education. After a sabbatical at Harvard School of Divinity, Sister Judy Morasci came to Mercy Hospital to serve as the Vice President of Mission Integration.

“Her impact is felt by all those she has touched, and to say she is beloved by all is a gross understatement. She had an extraordinary influence on Mercy Hospital and our community,” says Bruce Peters, CEO and President of Mercy Hospitals.

It is difficult to find words adequate to describe the impact that Sister Judy has on employees, stakeholders, patients and families.

“Sister Judy is everything that is good about Mercy Hospitals. She is kindness and compassion. She is spirituality and hope. To spend time with Sister Judy is to have your faith in a better world renewed and reinvigorated,” says Michal Yniguez, Administrative Supervisor and Senior Executive Assistant.

Although comforting patients and families is central to Sister Judy’s role, she deeply and personally cares for every employee as they are part of her flock. Susan Sharp, RN, BSN, Manager of Endoscopy, recalls “in 2017 after my trauma in Las Vegas, Sister Judy came to my office and sat with me and prayed with me and held my hand while I cried. I will always remember her compassion, sweetness and the care she showed me. She has since that day always checked on me to make sure I was ok. I will miss her terribly. She is such a light for us all.”

Mercy Hospital Leadership and the Friends of Mercy Foundation, after consulting with Sister Judy about her wishes, will be establishing the Sister Judy Morasci Endowment to honor her legacy. The annual proceeds of the endowment will benefit local organizations who serve women and children with the most critical needs.

We humbly ask you to honor Sister Judy’s legacy by making a gift to the Sister Judy Morasci Endowment, administered by the Friends of Mercy. This endowment will live in perpetuity, allowing your gift to annually bless women and children for years to come — in honor of our dear Sister Judy Morasci, RSM.