Janet R. Bender Jacoby was introduced to the Sisters of Charity while a student at Sacred Heart High School in Pittsburgh. After enrolling at Seton Hill, a Religious Studies course with Sister Marita Ganley led to her becoming a Religious Coordination major, setting the path for her career in ministry.

After graduating from Seton Hill, Janet served for four years as Director of Religious Education at a parish in Rochester, Minn. - the first laywoman to hold that position. Janet was also the first laywoman to serve as a chaplain at Saint Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point, Wis., and one of two laywomen in the first formation program for spiritual direction at the Franciscan Spirituality Center in the mid-1980s.

Janet was a chaplain for almost 28 years and received the hospital’s Circle of Excellence Award in 2004, 2009 and 2010. She is grateful for the bonds she has formed with her patients and their families through the years. Janet is also active in a wide range of ministries through her local parish.

She credits her husband and children with supporting her in her call to ministry, and maintains her Seton Hill connections with both friends and the Sisters of Charity who taught her.

“The Sisters and professors at Seton Hill gave me what I needed to forge the way for laywomen in the Church,” Janet said. “I believe that I have helped to raise the consciousness of women as leaders in the Catholic church by my faithful witness.”