SISTER MARY SYLVIA GRANDSAERT became a Sister of Mercy in 1928 at the age of 17. She became a Registered Nurse in 1934, obtained her Baccalaureate in Nursing and taught nursing at St. Mary’s College of Nursing in San Francisco until 1954. After obtaining her Masters in Nursing Education in 1955, she organized the curriculum and was a founder of the University of San Francisco School of Nursing where she taught until 1967. After this, she conducted Nursing In-Service Education in Mercy Hospitals in San Diego, Oxnard and San Francisco. In 1981 she came to St. Gregory’s Parish in San Mateo where she set up programs for home-bound, the fair elderly, and the infirm. She is particularly concerned about helping the terminally ill die in their own homes peacefully among loved ones and in supporting relatives in their caregiving efforts and their grief.
