2017 Ignatian Spirit Award

Mr. Tom McGrath, President, St. Bonaventure’s College is pleased to announce the 2017 Ignatian Spirit Award recipient is Mrs. Helen Brennan P13, 15.

Born in Goose Bay, Labrador and raised in Marystown, Mrs. Helen Brennan received her R.N. designation upon graduating from the Salvation Army Grace General Hospital School of Nursing in St. John’s in 1983.   Her career spanned various nursing positions in hospitals throughout Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and Alberta. While in Alberta she received certification from Grant MacEwan College in both Advanced Cardiac Life Support and ACLS Coordination and trained medical professionals throughout northern Alberta.  She was also a Northern Alberta ward representative for the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses.

Mrs. Brennan has contributed extensively as a volunteer in every community she has lived. While in Alberta she started the first volunteer program for young women at the Whitecourt Hospital and was a leader at St. Anthony’s Parish Youth Group in Drayton Valley. While in Korea she developed and delivered First Aid training to the Hibernia Project Site Team and offered support and medical translation to foreigners in the Ulsan Foreigners Compound.

Upon returning to St. John’s she was on the Executive for the St. John’s Sea Stars Synchronized Swimming Club and over a 15-year period gave countless hours of service in every aspect of St. Bonaventure’s College.  She continues to be an active participant in the St. Bon’s community by serving on the Ignatius Society and various fund raising events.

“Helen Brennan has been an extraordinary volunteer and supporter of the school’s mission and she is a tremendous role model for our students,” said President McGrath.

The Ignatian Spirit Award honours a person who has made an invaluable contribution to their community and who truly demonstrates what it means to be a “Man or Women for and with Others.”  The recipient embraces the ideals of St Ignatius Loyola and reflects the characteristics and qualities inherent in a Jesuit education at St. Bonaventure’s College.

The award will be presented at a later date.