Sister Donna Otter, CSJ

For Sister Donna Otter, the call to religious life came early, and never wavered. “For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a Sister,” she said.  

Sister Donna was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph from first grade through college, and her two sisters had already entered the congregation — it seemed like that was her natural path. 

But then her journey took an unexpected turn. Sister Donna’s heart was drawn to serve abroad:  

“My dad liked the Columban Father’s visits and would give them donations. As a result, we would get their Far East Magazine, telling about their foreign mission work. Seeing the pictures and reading the stories, an interest was sparked. In my senior year, a Maryknoll sister came home to see her folks and stopped at the school to talk to us. Later, I wrote to them inquiring more about their life. I never received an answer. Relating the story to my 8th-grade teacher, she simply said, ‘Come join us, we don’t have a Mission, but we soon will!’  Within a few years, I was on my way to the CSJ Mission in Brazil.” 

Sister Donna went on to serve in Brazil for 38 of her 66 years as a Sister of St. Joseph. 

“One of my greatest joys was landing on Brazilian soil,” she said. “And one of my greatest challenges was discerning when it was time to return to the States permanently.” 

Throughout her time in ministry, Sister Donna recalled being touched by the holiness she witnessed in others, including Sister Lucia, who she shared community with in a small town in Brazil.  

Each day, she said, Sister Lucia cared for a woman who was confined to her bed. “Sister would make her almost daily visits with a delightful joy,” Sister Donna said. “Cleaning, feeding, words of encouragement, and singing.” 

Though her time in Brazil holds a special place in her heart, one of Sister Donna’s favorite ministries came later, when she served as the director of a homeless shelter in Junction City, Kansas. “It brought to real life the words of our charism: ‘love your neighbor without distinction,’” she shared.  

Sister Donna’s words of wisdom: “With eyes wide open and sleeves rolled up, live in the present and be ready to tend what drops in your lap.” 

Sister Donna is grateful for a grant from SOAR! new hi-low beds to replace the Sisters’ manual, hand-crank ones. “The beds are wonderful!” she says. “I can raise the feet and head as high as I want. It also stays in place and doesn’t slide around.”