Skip to Main Content

Sister Donna Marie Gribschaw

Sister-Donna-Marie-Gribshaw-photoSister Donna Marie Gribschaw ’74 is a member of the Sisters of Divine Providence, actively accompanying her sisters in devoted and compassionate ways. She assists her religious community with its needs, providing them leadership that is founded in love.

Sister Donna Marie has been a part of the La Roche community since 1968, when she first joined as a student and Sister of Divine Providence. She earned her master’s degree in mathematics from John Carroll University, and began a career of teaching and helping others.

Her teaching career began in 1972, when she became the third-grade homeroom teacher at Providence Heights Alpha School, followed by ministry work at several high schools throughout Pennsylvania. She also taught at the University of Pittsburgh, and soon after made her way to teach at La Roche.

Interspersed within her teaching career, Sister Donna Marie ministered in Puerto Rico from 1994 to 1995 and again from 2004 to 2007. She served as a grant writer and coordinator of the Low Income Tax Clinic, and taught mathematics at Colegio San Felipe in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Sister Donna Marie uses her ministry as a way to give back to others, both at home and abroad. She said, “I have been blessed with skills and talents, and they are mine to share—not keep for myself. I am motivated to share and give back to my community because so much has been given to me.”

When she returned from Puerto Rico in 1995, she assumed the position as the first full-time, on-sight executive director of Providence Connections, a sponsored ministry established to assist single woman-parent families in the area.

“As I look back, I kept myself open to the expertise of many and gained skills beyond imagining. Learning them has opened new avenues of ministry and leadership for me,” she said.