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September 18, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – September 16, 2026, marked a major milestone for Sister Michael Thomas Watson, OP, as she celebrated 100 years of life while surrounded by Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, Co-workers, former colleagues, and friends. Sister Michael Thomas was celebrating a life dedicated to God; the Adrian Dominican Sisters; and the numerous students, colleagues, patients, pastors, and friends.

Sister Michael Thomas was recognized in a special way during the daily Mass celebrated in St. Catherine Chapel on her birthday. At the end of the Mass, Sharon Carelli, an Adrian Dominican Associate who ministered with Sister Michael Thomas at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson, Nevada, presented her with special tributes. 

“You are both remembered and celebrated for your years in healing ministry and in the countless hours poured out” at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, Sharon read from a letter written by Archbishop George Leo Thomas of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas. “You have faithfully reflected the life of Jesus through your life.”

Sharon also read a letter to Sister Michael Thomas from Bishop Gregory W. Gordon, Auxiliary Bishop of Las Vegas. “I was blessed to serve with you in the Archdiocese of Las Vegas and at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in particular,” he wrote. “You exercised ministry with profound joy…. You inspired me, dear Sister, and I know that I am a better minister of the Lord’s healing thanks to you.”

Sharon also presented Sister Michael Thomas with the apostolic blessing of Pope Leo XIV.

Tributes to Sister Michael Thomas continued during the birthday celebration later that afternoon with letters from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Bishop Earl Boyea of the Diocese of Lansing. In addition, the assembly of family members, former colleagues, and Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates shared their own memories and their affection and admiration for Sister Michael Thomas.

Finally, Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, spoke on behalf of the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates. “We are so proud of you,” she said. “We love you and we’re so grateful to you for the enormous contribution to so many people.”

In turn, Sister Michael Thomas thanked all who were celebrating her birthday for what they had meant to her during her life.  

“I can truly say I love all the places where I ministered,” Sister Michael Thomas said in an interview before her birthday. “I lived through the problems, and here I am … I never realized what would happen to me, but Christ is with us at all times, and he’s the one who makes decisions for us. To give of ourselves, that’s the important thing.”

The Life of Sister Michael Thomas Watson, OP

Sister Michael Thomas’ generous spirit was evident even before she entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in 1949. Born on September 16, 1926, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the oldest of the seven children of Edward Bates and Ruth (Mohr) Watson, she was baptized Helen Margaret Wilson. At the age of 15, a friend from school invited Helen to attend a Catholic Mass. Ultimately, she asked her parents for permission to convert to Catholicism. 

When her father was stationed in Japan, she took a job as a civilian secretary through Civil Service. She came to know the Charities Sisters, who took in babies whose mothers couldn’t take care of them. Helen worked out a system to make sure that the children had milk and food from the commissary. 

Sister Michael Thomas entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation on November 5, 1949; received her high school diploma from St. Joseph Academy in Adrian in 1950; and professed her first vows on August 9, 1951, and her final vows on August 9, 1956.

During about 75 years of religious life, Sister Michael Thomas has given of herself in numerous ways: as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Catholic schools in California and Nevada; as a pastoral minister at parishes in California; and, most recently, as a pastoral care volunteer at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson, Nevada. She moved to the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2017. 

“I loved teaching the children,” Sister Michael Thomas said. “I had such wonderful experiences with each of the children I worked with.” She taught every elementary school grade except for fourth grade.

She also has fond memories of her 17 years of pastoral ministry at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Hemet, California. “I was dedicated to giving Communion to the sick,” she said, recalling the times she drove 25 miles in one day to distribute Communion to parishioners who lived in mobile homes at a distance from the parish.

Sister Michael Thomas left Our Lady of the Valley in 1997 and, after a sabbatical, arrived at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in 1998 to serve as pastoral care volunteer for nearly 20 years. 

The Influence of Sister Michael Thomas

Associate Sharon Carelli, who served as a Chaplain at the St. Rose de Lima campus of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, recalled Sister Michael Thomas praying in the chapel in the afternoons and working in the gift shop in the evenings. “There was not a day when she wasn’t in the chapel with one of the staff: sitting, listening, praying with that staff member who was going through a challenge,” Sharon recalled. “That was an inspiration to me as a chaplain. I saw such a beautiful, touching, loving sight.”

Associate Shauna Walch recalled meeting Sister Michael Thomas when, at the age of 6, she was a student at St. Francis de Sales School in Las Vegas. Sister Michael Thomas at the time was teaching fifth grade. Years later, Shauna met Sister Michael Thomas when they both attended orientation at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. Her experiences of Sister Michael Thomas over the years still shape her today, Shauna said. “Just by being herself, she was a gift. Her presence was a gift, and I think that’s something that all of us aspire to.”

Sister Phyllis Sikora, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister who oversaw the Spiritual Care Department at St. Rose, was also impressed by the presence of Sister Michael Thomas. “Michael Thomas really taught me that it was about being a presence to everyone,” she said. “She made you feel as if you were the only person she was listening to.”
  
Sister Thomas Michael extended that presence to unhoused people who came to St. Rose, often for food in the cafeteria – which Sister Michael Thomas ensured that they received. “Michael got to know them by name and what their stories were,” Sister Phyllis said. “We weren’t just ministering to people who needed help, but we were in relationship with the people who came to the hospital. She would call them by name.”

Sister Beverly Bobola, OP, who also ministered at the hospital, recalled “several instances that I witnessed her going out of her way for the less fortunate…. We all attempt to be Christ-like to everyone that we meet, and in the hospital setting, there is more of an opportunity to be Christ-like people.”

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Michael Thomas Watson, OP, front left, sits with her family, friends, and former colleagues during the Mass celebrated on her 100th birthday.