Lifting Spirits with Love and Laughter

“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”

St. Louise de Marillac

By Associate Angela Anno

Pat Newhouse has enjoyed clowning at birthday parties, senior centers, parades, and college games for more than three decades.

It’s not easy turning the lights off for the final time, especially for a place that you’ve devoted most of your life to. That was the bittersweet task of S. Pat Newhouse, who was the last Sister of Charity of Cincinnati to serve in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, where the Sisters had ministered for 151 years. She retired to the Motherhouse this summer.

Although S. Pat no longer lives in Michigan, she cherishes the memories of how God first introduced her to the Sisters as her grade and high school teachers and eventually invited her to join them. She joined the Community in 1958 and spent 50 of the next 67 years in the Diocese of Lansing as a teacher, a director of religious education, a pastoral associate, and minister to the aging.

From a young age, S. Pat dreamed of becoming a Sister of Charity – and also a clown. In 1990, she fulfilled the latter dream by attending clowning classes at Lansing Community College. Since then, clowning has become an important part of her ministry. While she has donned many character costumes over the years, her favorite is Looney Lou Lou, a quirky, welcoming character who never fails to get people laughing. According to S. Pat, clowning “shows us how God’s grace can work through our imperfections and goofs and at the same time let wonderful things happen. As a Sister of Charity, I have been called to love others unconditionally and as a clown, I feel I have found another way of showing my love to those with whom I come in contact.”

Clowning, S. Pat says, opens doors, bringing not only laughter but also a sense of calm that helps people relax, live in the moment, and smile. It has also become a way to raise funds for nonprofit agencies. Over the years, she has clowned at venues ranging from birthday parties, senior centers, and parades to Michigan State games, the White House Easter Egg Roll (twice), and the University of Amsterdam Children’s Oncology Hospital. She has even taken pies in the face at Haven House, a ministry serving homeless families, and has earned the “People’s Choice” award there 10 times for inspiring the most donations at its annual pancake breakfast. The award has since been retired — and starting next year, it will be renamed the “Sister Pat Impact Award.”

In serving others through her ministries, her devotion to Mother Seton grew and she became a docent at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, 20 years ago. She views it as a privilege and an opportunity to see the power of prayer at work and spend time learning more about the woman whose example led her to her own ministries of care and service to others. It also allowed her to meet Ann O’Neill, whose cure of leukemia at age 4 was one of three miracles that led to Mother Seton’s canonization. She also believes it was prayer to Mother Seton that led to the instant healing of the eye for a former parishioner who had life-threatening brain and eye injuries as the result of a motorcycle accident. This healing, close to Mother Seton’s canonization day, further deepened her faith, love, and devotion.

“The way to obtain true happiness in life is by sharing our gifts and talents with those in need of God’s loving touch,” S. Pat shared. “Since we are his ministers here on earth, we bring that loving touch to others.” And this is something she seems to do naturally.

A friend summed up S. Pat’s ministry this way: “She will bring you to laughter. She will put a smile on your face. She will touch your heart and give solace to your soul. She will minister to you in the good times and the challenging ones. She will make you wonder what she taps for the unbounded love and energy that seem to propel her. She will connect you with her beloved Mother Seton and you will be better for it.”

(From left) SC Associate Tom Laverty and S. Pat Newhouse present to Sisters in Mother Margaret Hall on the topic of clowning.

Following her final Pancake Palooza in 2025, Haven House in Lansing, Michigan, honored S. Pat Newhouse by renaming its “People’s Choice” award to the “Sister Pat Impact Award.”

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