Marianne and Margaret (1962)
Marianne and Margaret(1962)
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Marianne Stoeger
- Nickname: Big Grannie
- Korean name: Go Jiseon
- Missionary Sisters of Christ the King (joined in 1954, made perpetual profession in 1962)
- 43 years of selfless service in Sorokdo (1962-2005)
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Margaret Pissarek
- Nickname: Little Grannie
- Korean name: Baek Sooseon
- Missionary Sisters of Christ the King (made perpetual profession in 1954)
- 39 years of selfless service in Sorokdo (1966-2005)
After graduating from a nursing school in Innsbruck, Austria in 1955, Sisters Marianne and Margaret came to Sorokdo in their late-20s at the news that the island needs nurses. They served Hansen’s disease patients for 39 and 43 years, respectively, and left the island silently on November 22, 2005. They left only two letters behind, saying that they were leaving because they became old and did not want to give any burden to the hospital.
They were hope for Sorokdo inhabitants, who were in despair due to social prejudice. They became mother of all patients and gave them love. They asked support to Catholic Women Association in Austria to have much-needed facilities built including, a tuberculosis ward, a ward for the blind, and a bathhouse. Also, they gave resettlement funds to those who recovered from the disease to help their rehabilitation to society.
They were so much devoted to Hansen’s disease patients but they declined to be overestimated, saying that they did nothing special and that they spent happy moments in Sorokdo.
The two sisters were incarnation of love.
Source: Marianne and Margaret Association