Sunday, Aug. 14, will be a very special day for Sister Carol Inkrott of St. Mary's Catholic Church. The event commemorates her - golden jubilee - 50th year as a sister of St. Francis of Tiffin, Ohio.

As pastoral leader of St. Mary's Catholic Church for the past 10 years, she says that the celebration enables her to reflect on how good God has been to her. "I'm a different person because of it," she reflected in an interview with The Icon earlier this week.

"I'm grateful with all those who I've worked with. They are part of who I am," she said. "My life has had challenges and opportunities - including wonderful educational opportunities."

Her role at St. Mary's includes a wide variety of things. She makes preparations for each mass, teaches junior high, instructs persons who join the church, meets with each of the church councils and handles the administrative duties of the parish, plus lots more.

Sunday's celebration begin with a 10 a.m. mass followed by a recognition luncheon with members of the St. Mary's parish in the church social hall.

Sister Carol's journey to Bluffton was a short one when looking at the map. She grew up New Cleveland in Putnam County and attended the New Cleveland Holy Family Parish.

Her spiritual journey to Bluffton, however, was much longer. After attending Tiffin St. Francis Convent High School she continued her education for two years at the College of St. Francis, Joliet, Ill. Following that she taught for two years at St. Patrick's Elementary School, Bryan.

She then returned to college and received a bachelor's degree from Madonna College, Lavonia, Michigan. Upon graduation she began teaching the very next day at Tiffin Calvert High School. She taught science, math and English there for eight years.

From Tiffin, Sister Carol moved to Toledo and taught four years at Toledo Central Catholic High School and was elected to the governing board of Sisters of St. Francis. She served on the board for five years while also serving as pastoral associate at St. Pius X parish in Sycamore.

She returned to teaching in the SAM Cluster (St. Sebastian, Bismarck; St. Assumption, Reed; and St. Michael's, Marywood), located south of Bellevue. There she served six years as pastoral associate and director of religious education. From the Bellevue area she then became director of religious education serving eight years at St. Peter's parish, Huron.

Finally, Bluffton appears on this journey. Ten years ago, Sister Carol was appointed pastoral leader at St. Mary's.

During this journey she obtained two additional educational degrees. In 1978 she obtained a master's of science education from the University of Iowa. In 1994 she obtained a master's in pastoral ministry from the University of Dayton.

Members of the parish have some surprises awaiting her on Sunday. Watch The Icon for a follow-up to learn of those surprises.