Sheila O'Toole

Sheila Mary O'Toole CNZM QSO (born 1929), also known as Sister Mary Laurence, is a Catholic nun from New Zealand who worked in Western Samoa and Vietnam.^[1] She is the most decorated New Zealander in relation to Vietnam.^[2]

Biography

Sister Sheila O'Toole is a member of the order Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. She worked with indigenous Montagnard refugees at Phuoc Binh in Phuoc Long province from March 1969 to April 1975.^[1] She was in Saigon during the Vietnam War, was held in a prisoner of war camp, and was one of the last people to depart from the United States Embassy in April 1975.^[3] She also helped Vietnamese orphans leave Saigon in Operation Babylift.^[4][5]

She returned to Vietnam in 1992 and spent another 12 years there, including working at a hospital for leprosy patients. She introduced fellow New Zealander Sally Morrison to the hospital and Morrison spent many years supporting the centre.^[6]

In 2007 she published her memories of Vietnam in Behind the Visor: My Life in Wartorn Vietnam.^[7]

Awards and recognition

In the 1986 New Year Honours, O'Toole was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service in Western Samoa.^[8] In the 2004 New Year Honours, she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a welfare worker.^[9]

In August 2019, O'Toole celebrated her 90th birthday and in January 2020, she celebrated 70 years of service.^[10]

References

1. "Str Sheila Mary O'Toole". Retrieved 10 April 2023.
2. "Sister Sheila O'Toole: Vietnam nun - Part 2". DigitalNZ. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
3. "Sister Sheila O'Toole: Vietnam nun - Part 1". RNZ. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
4. "Sister Sheila O'Toole recalls 'Operation Babylift'". RNZ. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
5. "Search for family forty years on". RNZ. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
6. "Philanthropist Sally Morrison on her life's missions". UNO Magazine. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
7. "Behind the visor : my life in wartorn Vietnam | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
8. "No. 50362". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1985. p. 30.
9. "New Year honours list 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
10. "Jubilees in 2020" (PDF). Province Newsletter: Sisters of Our Ladies of the Mission. 2: 4. August 2019.