Mother Joseph

“My sisters, whatever concerns the poor is always our affair.”

Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a Sister of Providence, was a legend in her own time. A deeply spiritual woman, Mother Joseph shaped the material world around her as well. Acknowledged as one of the first architects in the Pacific Northwest, she acquired a reputation for quality craftsmanship. In 1875 she helped establish Oregon’s first hospital, St. Vincent, then a three-story wooden structure in northwest Portland. In building St. Vincent Hospital, Mother Joseph and the Sisters of Providence set the cornerstones for one of the nation’s great medical centers. From simple beginnings, the Sisters of Providence health care ministry has grown into a comprehensive health care system including hospitals, health plans, physicians, clinics and allied health services.

Mother Joseph also was known for her phenomenal range of skills: seamstress, carpenter, painter, sculptor, blacksmith, farmer, watchmaker, locksmith, and mechanic. As Sister Karin Dufault, S.P. describes her, Mother Joseph “learned how to do what needed to be done—continuous learning—as a response to need.” Mother Joseph used her skills as a pioneer in the rough Oregon country and in building some of its leading institutions. When she arrived on the frontier in 1856, Mother Joseph found no hospitals, few schools, and little in the way of charitable services for those suffering. Under her leadership, she and her Sisters went on to build schools, orphanages, shelters for the mentally ill, homes for the aged, and hospitals.

Born on April 16, 1823 in St. Elzear, Quebec, the infant who was later to become Mother Joseph was named Esther Pariseau. Like her biblical namesake, this dark-haired, gray-eyed girl displayed a remarkably bold spirit. Her father was a respected coachmaker, and young Esther spent much time with him, learning the craft skills that she later applied to constructing hospitals and schools. When Esther was 17, her mother enrolled her in a newly opened boarding school at St. Martin de Laval, determined that her gifted daughter receive formal schooling. Shortly thereafter, Esther decided to enter the newly formed religious community of the Sisters of Providence.

In 1856, thirteen years after entering the Sisters of Providence, she and four other sisters traveled 6,000 miles from Montreal to the distant Washington Territory. The sisters soon directed their energies toward building much-needed services—caring for orphans and the elderly, educating youth, and visiting and healing the sick. Mother Joseph was known for her attention to detail. Donning a tool belt, she worked side by side with construction workers, pointed out inadequate building supplies and methods, negotiated supply contracts, and once single-handedly dismantled and rebuilt a chimney foundation that failed to meet her standards. A tender woman as well as formidable, Mother Joseph was known to shower affection on the orphaned children at the Providence Academy in Vancouver, Washington.

Determined to find the necessary resources to fund their projects, Mother Joseph and her companions traveled vast distances. They embarked on trips by horseback and riverboat to the mines in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and the Caribou Country in British Columbia, begging for money, gold dust and nuggets to support their charity work. The contributions of these women to education, health care, and social services in the West continue to be recognized a century after Mother Joseph’s death. Her finest building, Providence Academy in Vancouver, still stands as a testament to her aesthetic vision and workmanship. In speaking to the enduring impact of Mother Joseph’s work, Sister Margaret Pastro, S.P. notes, “Often times we cannot see the fruits of our labor, but we are called to persevere in hope, believing that what we do makes a difference in society and in the world today. That’s the example that Mother Joseph’s life gives me—perseverance in hope, steadfast faith, and a belief in better things to come.”

In 1902, the Sisters of Providence gathered in Vancouver, Washington, to pay their last respects to Mother Joseph. The Providence Academy chronicles record her last testament as testimony to her moral vision: “My dear sisters, allow me to recommend to you the care of the poor in our houses, as well as those without…Do not say, ‘Ah! This does not concern me, let others see to them.’ My sisters, whatever concerns the poor is always our affair.”

Providence Health & Services honors the pioneering work of Mother Joseph and the Sisters of Providence by funding the watercourse in their honor. This stream moves east to west through the park, symbolizing the sisters’ pilgrimage from Montreal to the Northwest 150 years ago. Here in the Northwest, their charitable services to the community laid the foundation for what is today Providence Health & Services..

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