Sister Mary Roch Rocklage, who founded what's now the Chesterfield-based Mercy health care system, died Tuesday after a long illness, officials said. She was 87.
Born Antoinette Marie Rocklage and known as Sister Roch, the north St. Louis native joined the Sisters of Mercy religious order in 1954 at age 19, taking her first vows in 1957. She began her career in a medical/surgical nursing post after receiving her nursing degree in 1961 from what's now St. Xavier University in Chicago.
Early in her career, Rocklage held nursing and leadership roles at several Mercy communities. She was administrator/president of St. John's Mercy Medical Center (now Mercy Hospital St. Louis) from 1969 to 1979, then served as provincial administrator of the Sisters of Mercy St. Louis Regional Community.
She later was named to lead the religious community's hospitals across seven states. Rocklage then helped create the Sisters of Mercy Health System, now Mercy, and served as its first president and CEO from 1986 to 1999. She continued with Mercy as its first full-time board chair until 2003.
Throughout her career, Rocklage advocated for health care on the national level. She had served terms as board chair of the American Hospital Association and as board chair of the Catholic Health Association.
Recognition for her work including induction into trade journal Modern Healthcare's Healthcare Hall of Fame in 2011 and numerous awards: the Catholic Health Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Hospital Association's Distinguished Service Award, the Missouri Hospital Association Career Achievement Award and the Sophia Wisdom Award from the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
"This is a tremendous loss for Mercy and all who loved Sister Roch," Steve Mackin, Mercy president and CEO, said in a press release. "She inspired us through her visionary and principled leadership and was a constant source of joy to everyone around her."
Sister Mary Roch Rocklage chose to donate her body to science, "consistent with her lifelong commitment to medicine," Mercy officials said in the release.
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