Submitted by: Dan Rich
Sister Margo Cain
Sister Margo Cain, CSC, 73, formerly of South Bend, Indiana, died April 12 in her Holy Cross community home in Park City, Utah.
Sister Margo was administrator of Saint Joseph Hospital, South Bend from 1968-1976. She spent her life in ministry in the Sisters of the Holy Cross serving in the fields of health care and social and pastoral services.
Born in Spokane, Washington, on January 5, 1933, Sister Margo was the daughter of Joseph G. and Agnes Dolan Cain. She graduated from the University of Seattle with a bachelor of arts degree and in 1956 began her long service in health care as a registered medical record librarian in Spokane. In 1956, Sister Margo entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross at Saint Mary's Notre Dame, IN, where she made her final profession of vows in 1962.
After a short tenure in medical records at Saint Agnes Hospital, Fresno, CA, Sister Margo attended Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Mo., where she received her master's degree in hospital administration in 1964 and returned to Saint Agnes as an assistant administrator.
In 1968, she became the administrator of Saint Joseph Hospital in South Bend, where she served until 1975. Sister Margo's vision steered the health care center through the challenging days of implementing Medicare and Medicaid as new government programs in health care, inaugurating the first governance structure of a board of trustees comprised of Sisters of the Holy Cross and lay women and men from the civic community, and establishing the first department of pastoral care within the congregation's hospitals. She also created strong ties with the medical community and made concerted effort to recruit new physicians to the are. Sister Margo was committed to the development of competent lay management. She was the last Sister of they Holy Cross to serve as chief executive office of St. Joseph's Hospital, seeing her vision of lay leadership fulfilled in the appointment of her successor and colleague, David C. Trew. Following some further study in clinical pastoral education, she assumed responsibilities as administrator of Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT from 1978-1987.
In 1987, Sister Margo followed her dream to work more directly with the economically poor and moved to Cincinnati, OH, where she served as Assistant director of Bethany House Services, a center for homeless women and children, where she remained until 1993. After a short period of service at Providence Hospital, in Anchorage, Alaska , she moved back to Salt Lake City in 1995 where she became executive director of Catholic Community Services of Utah until 2001. At that time she assumed the role of Development Coordinator for Holy Cross Ministries of Utah. In 2003 Sister Margo moved to parish ministry and became coordinator of Ministries at St. May's Parish, Park City, UT, where she served until the time of her death.
Sister Margo is survived by her brother, C. Joseph Cain (Joanie), Palm Desert, CA; two nephews, Michael (Lori) and James; and two nieces, Heidi (Jim) Dowling and Colleen (Remo) Duller, all of California.
A wake service celebrating the life of Sister Margo will be held in the Church of Loretta at Saint Mary's Notre Dame, IN, on April 18 at 7 p.m. A Mass of Resurrection will be held in the Church at 10:30 a.m. on April 19. A memorial Mass will be celebrated in St. May's Church, Park City, UT, on April 23, at 11:30 a.m.
Memorials contributions may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross Ministry with the Poor Fund, Saint Mary's Notre Dame, IN 46656.
The Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements.