Sister Michael Thomas Watson

By Brian Sodoma

Friday, May 1, 2009 | 2 a.m.

An Adrian Dominican Sister since 1949, Sister Michael Thomas Watson has spent time as a schoolteacher and administrator. She also served for 20 years as a pastoral care minister in Heet, Calif. In 1998, after retiring, she came to Southern Nevada. Sister Watson saw the move to St. Rose’s de Lima campus, near the corner of Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway, as a blessing in her life. In about 10 years, she has logged more than 23,000 volunteer hours with the hospital.

“I’ve loved every minute of it. There hasn’t been one day that I could say that I didn’t want to get up and come to this hospital,” she said.

Sister Watson typically works from about 8 in the morning until 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon each day as a volunteer supervisor for the hospital. She even pops in for visits on Sundays, as well, and is known for walking the hospital halls and giving hardy “hellos,” handshakes and hugs.

“If we don’t let them (patients and employees) know we care … then what’s the sense of us being here?” she added.

Sister Watson also works with local church groups of all religions to establish food service days for the area’s homeless and has coordinated the delivery of usable, but obsolete, medical supplies to regions of need in Mexico.

Additionally, she volunteers for nearby McCaw Elementary School’s Positive Impact Reading Program, has worked in the hospital gift shop and held positions on the volunteer advisory board for St. Rose and its mission integration committee. But Sister Watson’s drive for her volunteer work lies in simply being a comforting presence for hospital patients and staff.

“To me, it’s about sharing God’s gifts that have been given to me with others. Right now in my life, it’s about being present to those who are ill,” Sister Watson said.

Sister Watson is on the board of directors of the Poverello House, an area nonprofit that offers hot meals, personal hygiene items, showers, beds for naps, television, games and an overall respite for spiritual and emotional rebuilding to the homeless.

At 82, Sister Watson has no plans of stopping her volunteer work.

“I just enjoy what I do. … I want to do what I can, while I can,” she added. “My philosophy today is to take each day as it’s God-given and to use it to the best of my ability.”