SISTER ELIZABETH OLEKSAK
WESTFIELD – Sister Elizabeth Oleksak, the founder of the Genesis Spiritual Life and Conference Center of the Sisters of Providence on Mill Street, will be the guest speaker Monday at the regular weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Westfield.
Sister Okelsak, a Westfield native, served as the center’s administrator from 1976 until her pseudo-retirement in 2002. She now continues her ministry at Genesis as an experienced retreat and spiritual director, focusing facilitator, supervisor of the gardens, tree identifier, historian and hostess to many groups visiting the Genesis center.
The Rotary club is among the groups which uses the facilities of the organization Sister Oleksak built having recently started to utilize the Carriage House for the club’s Monday luncheon meetings.
A graduate of St. Mary’s High School, Sister Oleksak was awarded the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.
She was on the founding board of directors for the Cancer House of Hope and the Winding River Land Conservancy in Westfield and served as a Cooperator for the Westfield Athenaeum and Woronoco Bank, now Berkshire Bank.
In 1977 Sister Oleksak spearheaded the development of the community gardens on the Genesis property for use by neighbors, immigrant populations, seniors and families. She continues to coordinate the community gardens with Lutheran Services.
An eco-spirituality resource person, she played a pivotal role in her congregation’s 2009 decision to place 26 acres of its fertile agricultural land along the Connecticut River, now known as Land of Providence, in a land trust with The Trustees of Reservations.
Oleksak has served a leader of her order, the Sisters of Providence twice serving eight year stints on the Sisters of Providence Executive Council and serving as her congregation’s vice president from 1989-1993. She was the congregation’s Vocation and Formation Director for four years and directed the associate program for 12 years.
Sister Oleksak was graduated from the Holy Ghost School of Practical Nursing in Cambridge and is a student of Bio Spiritual Focusing based on the work of Dr. Eugene Gendlin.
She also graduated from the Pastoral Counseling Program at Boston City Hospital and Westboro State Hospital and studied Centering Prayer with the Trappist Monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Spencer.
She served on the ethics Committee at Farren Memorial Hospital in Turners Falls and as a consultant conducting programs on Centering Prayer and Intensive Journal throughout the U.S. and Canada for more than 25 years.
Sister Oleksak has been a consultant, directing workshops and retreats for several religious communities, and has done extensive retreat work throughout the United States and Canada.
The Rotary Club of Westfield is a service organization meeting at noon on Mondays at the center’s 53 Mill St. Carriage House. The Club welcomes new members and more information about meetings and the club can be obtained from the club’s program chairperson, Jennifer Gruszka, at 413-265-1236, or on the club’s website, http://www.westfieldrotary.org.
