+ Sr. Michaela Kim, SM
First Superior General of the Sisters of Mary
3 February 1942 - 28 March 2019
Sr. Michaela Kim was the first successor to Father Al after his death in 1992. She presided over the congregation of the Sisters of Mary, and was board member until Sr. Maria Cho took over in 2012. She then returned to working on our programs in South Korea, and remained the leader of communication to our friends and donors until 2017.
Sr. Michaela followed Father Schwartz from Korea all the way to the Philippines.
When two Koreans meet, three of them are called "Park" or "Kim" – as Koreans themselves joke about the nation's most common last name. Sr. Michaela is a Kim, her birth name is Kim Ok Soon.
She was born on February 3rd, 1942 in Weesong Kun, in the province of Buk. She has four elder sisters. Her parents are no longer alive. Her schooling coincided with the war in Korea. In 1956, she left the "Choyang Middle School" with a certificate of undergraduate studies. Sister Michaela speaks Korean and English. She has been a member of the Congregation since 1963.
For five years, from 1965 to 1970, she worked in the "Sisters of Mary" hospital in Pusan, and for the next five years she worked as a Superior in the administration of the hospital. In her country, she was honored several times for her commitment to social causes. In 1972, the Minister of Public Health rewarded her for her work in the hospital for the poor. In 1984, the government decorated her again.
She belongs to the small group of Korean Sisters who followed Father Schwartz in the Philippines in 1984. A year later, he entrusted her with the handling of all the institutions of the Sisters of Mary in that country. Just before his death, he entrusted Sr. Michaela with his legacy: "I personally name, Sr. Michaela Kim, as the one to succeed me. She will have all authority concerning finances, personnel, expansion, construction and anything else major or minor. In a word, she will be looked upon as my alter ego when I am no longer here. She will decide on every matter in the same way that I have always decided, namely in dialogue and discussion with all the other sisters, especially those in positions of authority (Schwartz, Killing Me Softly, 134)."
Sr. Michaela continued her mandate until 2012, before handing the leadership over to Sr. Maria Cho, SM.
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