Co-founder of Jard'n de Los Niños, passes away at 66 (3:20 p.m.)
By S. Derrickson Moore/Sun-News reporter
Posted: 02/11/2009 03:13:54 PM MST




LAS CRUCES — Sister Anna Waldschmitt, O.S.F., who co-founded Jard'n de Los Niños in Las Cruces, died Dec. 22 in Dubuque, Iowa. She was 66.

Waldschmitt served for 10 years as director of the shelter for homeless and near homeless children, which she started with Sister Beth Daddio, O.S.F.

"She was loved in the community and one of our two founding mothers who were instrumental in starting and building Jard'n," said Jard'n de los Niños director Shirley Jaquez.

"What she saw the community needed at the time has proven true," Jaquez said. "Sister Anna wrote grants and helped Jard'n become financially stable and provide a model program for children that need assistance, keeping them safe from harm in a loving, nurturing environment,"

In 1995, Waldschmitt and Daddio began providing child care for homeless children in donated space at Peace Lutheran Church. They created a center that became a national model, working with local artists and volunteers on fundraising campaigns that included artists' holiday cards, art auctions and special events.

The two women mobilized help from the Las Cruces community, state and local government grants, and foundation support to build a center in Community of Hope. Jard'n moved to the new building, owned by the city of Las Cruces, in 2002.

Waldschmitt was born Shirley Waldschmitt on Feb. 18, 1942, in Remsen, Iowa, the oldest of six children of Raymond and Agnes Freking Waldschmitt.

In 1960, she joined the Sisters

of St. Francis in Dubuque, Iowa, and began her ministry as an elementary teacher at Melrose Park, Ill., and Garnavillo and Cascade in Iowa. She received a master's degree in religious education and served as a pastoral minister at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minn., in Estherville and Council Bluffs in Iowa, at Holy Family Church in Albuquerque and Holy Cross Church in Las Cruces.
From 1979 to 1984, she served on the formation team for the Sisters of St. Francis. In the late 1980s, she spent six months learning Spanish•Guatemala and returned to volunteer for one year at Casa Romero Refugee Center in Brownsville, Texas.

In 2004, she moved to Iowa and joined the Sioux City Neighborhood Project.

"She ministered among the Hispanic population there as friend and advocate. She was involved in the founding of Clare Guest House, a home of support and safety for women recently released from prison," said Daddio, who has returned to make her home in Las Cruces, where she will be involved with fundraising programs for Jard'n de los Niños.

Waldschmitt was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, in March 2006, and moved to a nursing home at her mother house in Dubuque about six months before her death.

At services December in Dubuque, her "personal life vision statement" was quoted: "I foster and participate in communities of healing, celebration and creative change."

She is survived by four brothers and one sister, all living in Iowa, nieces and nephews and her Franciscan sisters, with whom she shared 47 years of her life.

A private memorial service is planned in late February in Las Cruces.

A memorial fund has been established to benefit projects at Jard'n de los Niños. Checks, payable to Sister Anna Memorial Fund, may be sent to Sister Beth Daddio, 1300-G El Paseo Road, #162, Las Cruces, NM 88001.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com

http://www.lcsun-news.com:80/ci_11681225