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Cathleen Flynn was born in London, Ontario on May 1, 1933. She entered the congregation on July 1, 1951, and received her habit on January 3, 1952. She made her final vows on January 3, 1957. Her religious name was Sister Mary Brendan. She was the daughter of Timothy Flynn and Mary McNally both of Ireland. Cathleen attended St. Mary's Elementary School, St. Angela's College, and Catholic Central High School in London, ON.

While in the novitiate, Sister Mary Brendan completed her teacher training at London Teachers' College in 1955. She then earned her BA at Assumption University in Windsor, ON, followed by her MA at Manhattanville College in New York, NY in 1967. She completed her STM in (Masters in Sacred Theology) at Regis College in Toronto in 1983, and her PhD in Ministry, also at Regis College in 1990.

From 1955-1961, Sister Mary Brendan was a teacher and principal in Windsor. She returned to London and taught at the same high school she had attended in her youth, from 1961-1963. She then served as Mistress of Novices at Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse in London from 1964-1971. As a member of the Commission of Religious, Sister Mary Brendan made a significant contribution to Synod II of the Diocese of London in 1969. She was then elected General Superior, a position she held from 1971-1979. As Superior General, Mother Mary Brendan was a member of the boards of the community's hospitals in London, Chatham, and Sarnia. The varied works of the Sisters involved her in separate school education as well as the private Mount St. Joseph's Academy and St. Joseph's School of Music in London. She was also involved in health care, social work, pastoral care, the mission field in the NWT and in Peru, care of the aged, and retreat programs.

Sister Cathleen then worked as the Assistant Director of Continuing Education at Regis College in Toronto from 1983-1986. While a student in the Doctor of Ministry Program at Regis College, she worked as the Director of Continuing Education from 1986-1990, and upon graduation, continued in this role until 2000. She then became the Director of the Master of Arts Degree program at Regis College in 2000, and then the Vice President of Regis College from 2001-2002. She served on the Board of Governors at Regis College from 2000-2005. Sister Cathleen also served on the Faculty Council, Academic Council, and Dean's Council at Regis College in 1996, on the Appointment and Rank Committee in 1998, as Vice Chair of the Academic Council in 2003, and was appointed Professor Emerita from 2007-2008. Sister Cathleen died on February 13, 2020.

Fontbonne Hall, located at 534 Queens Avenue in London, Ontario, was a residence for the Sisters of St. Joseph from May 1951 to September 1953. The building, which was built by William Spencer in 1856 and had previously served as a former Knights of Columbus residence, was purchased to provide more room for the Sisters who had been living at Sacred Heart. On September 11, 1953, all children were transferred from Mount St. Joseph Orphanage to Fontbonne Hall due to changes in government policy that required improved boarding care. A total of 41 children were moved. As a result of this policy change, children under the age of two were placed back with the agency that had referred them. The building was officially opened on December 20, 1953. Fontbonne Hall was more like a foster home than an orphanage, as the new government policies required. In addition, the Sisters operated a Day Nursery School at this location which was licensed from 1954 until 1965 for the children of working families.

In 1963, the decision was made to change Fontbonne Hall’s focus to care for emotionally disturbed children in order to fulfill a growing community need. In June 1965, the Fontbonne Hall Board disbanded and in October 1965, the orphanage came under the direction of Madame Vanier Children’s Services which operated under the Catholic Charities. In June of 1967, the Sisters of St. Joseph withdrew. In 1968, Fontbonne Hall became the first private treatment centre licensed in the province of Ontario under the children’s mental health services legislation. In June of 1972, the contract at Fontbonne Hall was terminated, but the residents of Madame Vanier Children’s Services were allowed to stay until their new quarters were ready. On August 4, 1972, the new facility located at 871 Trafalgar Street was opened for the children’s care, and Fontbonne Hall was closed. The building at 534 Queens Avenue was reopened by the Sisters of St. Joseph under a new program called Internos, which served as a group home for teenage girls.

Sister Eveline Gagner was born in Chatham, Ontario on July 3, 1917. She was one of five children born to Dieudonne Gagner of Tilbury, Ontario and Marie Helene Caron of Dover Township, Kent County, Ontario. Her sister, Viola Marie Blanche, also entered the Congregation, and was given the religious name Yvonne.

Sister Eveline received her B.A. from Assumption University, Windsor in 1963, and her M.A. in Theology from the University of Windsor in 1972. She received a diploma from Lumen Vitae in Brussels. Following this, she received the Attestation d’Etudes: Recherche en Catéchèse from the University of Montreal in 1967. Three years later, in 1970, she received her Attestation d’Etudes: Perfectionnement en Religion from the University of Sherbrooke. Sister Eveline attended the EXODUS program in St. Louis Missouri, during a sabbatical period in 1988.

As well as her academic training, Sister Eveline holds her permanent teaching certificates for French and English. She taught from 1939 to 1979 in separate schools in Ontario, in London, Windsor, Belle River and Sarnia, and held positions as principal as well during this time. From 1969 to 1973, she served as the religion consultant for the Roman Catholic Separate School Board in Windsor, Ontario. From 1979 to 1982 Sister Eveline worked in the field of adult faith education as a catechist in the Stratford Deanery, followed by pastoral ministry at St. Andrew’s Parish in London from 1982 to 1988. Sister Eveline served as a volunteer in various capacities, including as a hospital visitor and ministering to the poor.

Beata (Jeanne d'Arc Celine) Gagnon was born in McGregor, Ontario on April 28, 1933, entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, Ontario July 2, 1952, received habit January 3, 1953, made profession of first vows on January 3, 1955 and final vows on January 3, 1958, died March 2, 2018 in London, Ontario and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, London, Ontario.

Beata was the daughter of Clarice Meloche and Paul Gagnon, Sr. Her siblings were Joseph, Paul, Cezaire, Christine Soulliere, Richard, Angela Savard, Pauline Paquette, Michael, James, Mary Joan Seguin and Mary Anne Meloche.
Sister Beata obtained her R.N.A. certification in 1971. She also completed training at St. Paul's University, Ottawa, in pastoral care in 1980, and a course for parish pastoral ministers in Windsor, ON in 1990. In 1975, Sister Beata completed a course in driver education and obtained her school bus driver "G" license.

Sister Beata was a farm girl from her youth and never lost her feisty spirit and ethic of hard work. In her early ministry from 1953-1954, she cared for children at Fontbonne Hall in London, and later, from 1957-1958 at St. Joseph's Manor in Windsor. She also served as a homemaker at convents in London and Belle River, ON from 1954-1957. She provided support care at St. Peter's Seminary in London from 1958-1961. From 1961-1963, she worked in Kinkora, ON as a French teacher for grades 7 and 8, From 1963-1969, she again worked in the orphanages in London and Windsor.

In 1971, she trained as an R.N.A. and loved caring for the sick at St. Joseph's Hospital in Chatham, ON and in the infirmary at Mount St. Joseph from 1969-1975. From 1975-1977, she worked as a ward clerk at the hospital in Chatham, and then as an R.N.A. and pastoral care worker at St. Joseph's Hospital in London from 1977-1983.

Sister Beata served as a driver for the community in London from 1983-1989. and after this, until 1993, she carried out parish ministry in St. Clement Parish in McGregor, ON, and in St. Mary's Parish in Blenheim, ON beginning in 1999. Sister Beata was a generous and caring woman, eager to meet and share with others whenever possible. Totally committed to her faith, she was vocal in her expression of what she believed in, and in her fidelity to the Church's teachings, providing encouragement to others who were struggling. She loved her religious dress, and wore it with pride to her last weeks. Her friendly and welcoming manner endeared her to many, including staff and clients in St. Joseph's Hospice, members of the Intergenerational Choir, and people she met on the street and engaged in conversation and invited in for a tour or cup of tea. She loved to dance, and would joyfully move to the music whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Louise Godal was born November 30, 1924, in Pobedium, Slovak Republic to Michael Godal and Josephine Feranec. She was the eldest of eight children, having six brothers and one sister. Louise Godal was received into the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of London August 25, 1943. She made her first profession August 25, 1945, and her final profession that same day in 1948. After dedicating herself to religious life she took on the religious name Sister Emerita Godal.
She graduated from grade school and high school and received training in being a homemaker. In 1970 she was trained as a Food Service Supervisor at the Catholic Hospital Association, St. Louis, Missouri and in 1972 she received Dietary Service Training at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. She also trained at the Theological Institute of St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin in 1991.
Sister Emerita served in Ingersoll, Ontario from 1945 to 1947 and in Delhi, Ontario from 1947 to 1950. She then returned to London at Mount St. Joseph, the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, from 1950 to 1964. There, she taught Home Economics at Mount St. Joseph Academy from 1956 to 1964. She travelled to Killam, Alberta in 1964 where she worked in dietetics at Killam General Hospital until 1971. After that, she dedicated herself to working as a homemaker in Sarnia, Ontario from 1971 to 1977 and in St. Thomas, Ontario from 1977 to 1979. Sister Emerita Godal then worked as a Pastoral Minister at Blessed Sacrament Church in Chatham, Ontario in 1979. She then went on to be the Pastoral Minister for Blessed Sacrament Parish in Chatham, Ontario from 1996 to 2001. She then returned to London, Ontario in 2001 and worked as seamstress at the motherhouse. She passed November 11, 2024.

Sister Mary Anthony Hartleib (nee Mary Anne Lenore) was born in Stratford, Ontario on February 10, 1924. She was the daughter of Charles Henry Hartleib and Loretta Durand. Her stepmother was Mary Hartleib of Waterloo, Ontario. Mary Anne Lenore Hartleib joined the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, Ontario and received the habit on July 2, 1965. She made her final vows on May 30, 1971 in the Chapel at Mount St. Joseph. She was given the religious name Sister Mary Anthony. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in art and theology at the University of Windsor in 1969, and then studied at Althouse College in London, Ontario. Sister Mary Anthony received a permanent teaching certificate in 1972, a supervisor’s certificate in art, and a teaching certificate in art and English. From 1970 until 1981, she supervised the art department at Mount St. Joseph Academy in London. She was appointed assistant bursar at Mount St. Joseph, but continued with art and the teaching of ceramics until 1985 when her art work took a new turn. Always interested in the spiritual, Sister Mary Anthony turned to iconography. She spent two years studying Chinese water colour painting, followed by three years of iconography. She was a scholar, a skilled teacher of art, and a passionate advocate of the way icons open the mystery of the sacred. Sister Mary Anthony became well known as an iconographer and maintained a studio in the Sisters’ residence after Mount St. Joseph Academy closed. For several years, she shared her knowledge of iconography with the seminarians at St. Peter’s Seminary in London. The community of the Sisters of St. Joseph moved to 485 Windermere Road in 2007, where Sister Mary Anthony occupied her own art studio. Three of her icons, including that of the Blessed Trinity, were placed in the Chapel at the new residence. After a very short illness, Sister Mary Anthony died in the care centre at the Sisters’ Residence on June 23, 2008. Her funeral Mass of Resurrection was celebrated in St. Joseph Chapel in the residence at 485 Windermere Road. Father Frank O’Connor of St. Peter’s Seminary was the main celebrant. Sister Mary Anthony was buried in St. Peter’s cemetery in London.

Heart-Links began in Sept. 1994, as a community-sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The ministry grew out of the Sisters’ work in Zana Valley, Peru (1962 to 1994, when the order closed the mission). In 1994, when Sister Janet Zadorsky returned to Canada, she began as a way for the Sisters and others to continue links with Peru and expand the work the Sisters started.

The first board for Heart-Links met in 1995, and eventually Pat Mailloux took over accounts and Sister Marie Celine organized artistic work and sales. On November 1, 2002, Heart-Links was incorporated under the Canada Corporation Act, and on January 1, 2003, it received charitable registration from Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. At this time, Heart-Links became a secular, autonomous organization.

The Sisters and other volunteers raised funds through Heart-Links for Peru via concerts and bazaars. Each year beginning in 1996, an Awareness trip took volunteers to visit the work and communities in Peru supported by Heart-Links. In 2014, Heart-Links celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Over the years Heart-Links in Peru has supported communal kitchens in Zana, Aviacion, Nueva Rica, and Mocupe, a music group in Chiclayo, a dance group in Zana, school breakfast programs, special needs schools in Mocupe and Zana, a school for needy in Zana, a bakery in Reque, and the construction of a new communal kitchen in Zana, among others.