Sister Judith Ann Duvall

Major Superior | Chairperson, The Sisters Of The Third Order Of St. Francis | Chairperson, OSF Boards
OSF HealthCare, OSF HealthCare Foundation

Laureate 2021

Sister Judith Ann grew up the middle child in a family with three brothers and one sister. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father served in the U.S. Navy before becoming a car parts salesman and then an insurance salesman. She grew up in St. Genevieve, Missouri, a small community near the Mississippi River, 60 miles south of St. Louis, whose residents were descendants of French and German immigrants. She attended Catholic Grade school and High School in her home town. Her parents sacrificed and saved money to enable her to begin taking piano lessons in second grade and purchased a piano from an older woman for $30.00, and so her love for music was nurtured, Bach and Chopin being her favorite composers.

She was a tomboy by nature, loving nature and the outdoors and engaged in sports of all kinds but was only really good at track and swimming. In high school she was involved in many activities including Mission Club, Glee Club, editor of the school paper, Church choir and spent her summers giving swimming lessons and lifeguarding at their local pool.

She entered The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Peoria following high school graduation in the fall of 1964, a desire that began all the way back when she was in first grade. She just couldnt imagine a life where God was not at the very center. She professed perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to God in August 1970.

Sister obtained a bachelors degree in nursing from Northern IL University in DeKalb, IL and served as a nursing supervisor at Saint James Hospital in Pontiac, IL and worked in the neonatal center at Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. She received a masters degree in Catholic Doctrine from St. Johns University in New York City, N.Y. and finally a bachelors degree in Business Management and Administration from Bradley University in Peoria. Those wonderful education experiences supported her well in her various roles in the Religious Community as Vocation Director, Formation Director, Treasurer and finally Major Superior for her Sisters, her current role, as well as serving as on the various Boards of OSF HealthCare that began in 1989 and engaging in designing and implementing a Ministry Development Program to form leaders to serve in Catholic health care that continue to this day. Her passion is to mentor leaders to be living extensions of their rich heritage to serve the sick and the poor with the greatest care and love.