Sister Karen Yarkosky was Sister Martina's roommate for 22 years.  She remembers her friend as a "Very kind, sweet lady... Very compassionate."   With her roommate's passing, Sister Karen is now the last member of the religious Sisters of Mercy working at Bishop Drumm.  About 25 still live here, but including Karen, there are only three sisters in this religious order of catholic nuns still employed in the Mercy network in Des Moines.  That includes Bishop Drumm, Mercy Medical Center, The House of Mercy Care Center for Women and Children, and the several clinics.  And one of those final three is retiring this month.

While the nuns have been replaced on almost every level by lay workers in Des Moines, the Sisters of Mercy and their commitment to a life of service still lives on in the employees who have worked with, and for them.

"Sister Martina and the other sisters gave their lives away for what they believe is important and that such a rare commodity that anyone has any longer.  I'll never forget that."   Brian Farrell worked with Sister Martina and says her singular focus, helping others, influenced his entire staff.  He still has a picture of her cleaning up after a water main break flooded the Bishop Drumm Hallways.

"We had a lot of people out there with wet vacs, squeegees, and Sister Martina was there sweeping water.  She was well into her 80's at the time," remembers Farrell.

While her life itself is worthy of recognition, Sister Martina has another interesting place in Iowa history.  She was the last survivor of the fifteen Irish girls brought to Iowa in 1928 for the purpose of training and educating them to become Sisters of Mercy, and help spread the order's presence in our state.

"We all knew 15 had come over, kind of exciting when all of a sudden 15 people added to your family," says Sister Beatrice Costello.

The number of Sisters of Mercy is dwindling in central Iowa, but the remaining sisters are confident the lay workers who have replaced them in the areas of health care and social services will continue the tradition of dedicating a life to serving others.

Sister Yarkosky says, "If it's god's work, it will continue.  One way or the other it will continue."

Thanks to a Mercy recruiting video, Sister Martina's voice can still be heard.  Weak and frail, but if you listen closely you can hear the Irish accent she never lost. 

Currently there are 4300 Sisters of Mercy in North America.  The Sisters of Mercy archivist says there were once as many as nine thousand in the 1960's.