Rev. Mother Beatrice, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Frances Ball Turner



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History of  Louisiana, by Chambers
Vol. III, pg. 48

Rev. Mother Beatrice, Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word, particularly
endeared herself to the community of Shreveport during the twelve years she
resided there, the last six years acting as mother superior of what is now
the T. E. Schumpert Memorial Sanitarium.

A Native of Ireland, where she was reared and educated, she spent many
years in the service of the Catholic order of the Sisters of Charity of the
Incarnate Word, whose mother house is at Galveston, Texas.

She acted as superior at Houston and Temple, Texas, and in May, 1907, came
to Shreveport with Mother Columba, then superior, and took charge of the
sanitarium then being operated by Doctors Schumpert and Abramson, known as
the Shreveport Sanitarium, on Texas Avenue.  At his death Doctor Schumpert
executed a will which gave the sisters the sanitarium, with the site on
which it stood, the articles of the will giving the sisters permission to
sell this property and apply the proceeds to the purchase of a more
suitable site and new building.

This was done and the new sanitarium was opened in 1911.  To Mother
Beatrice must be given the credit of financing this beautiful memorial and
it stands as a monument ot her untiring efforts and sound business
judgment.
She insisted upon this particular site, and her vision and sound reasoning
has been amply justified since today it is one of Shreveport's most
beautiful and valuable pieces of property, located in an exclusive
residential section, the grounds with great trees and shrubs enhancing the
beauty of well kept terraced lawns.

The main building is of red brick with stone trimming, four stories and
basement high, located at 841 Margaret Place.

After the building was erected she surrounded herself with a medical and
surgical staff competent to make the Schumpert Sanitarium one of the best
hospitals in the South.  She instituted, after much investigation and
thought, a very thorough system of histories and records, with a highly
skilled staff of specialists in a thoroughly equipped laboratory, bringing
the sanitarium up to the highest standards of similar institutions, and
with her coworkers solved many problems of hospital efficiency.  Every
patient received Mother Beatrice's personal attention whenever possible,
and the rich raiment of the opulent or the rags of the poor made no
difference; she only sought to comfort and ease the soul in affliction and
distress.

In every position Mother Beatrice has shown rare executive ability and
public spirit, and it was with profound regret that the staff of surgeons
and physicians and nurses, patients and the entire community reluctantly
accepted her transfer to the St. Patrick's Sanitarium at Lake Charles,
where she is now acting as Mother Superior.

She was for six years procuratirx during Mother Columba's administration as
superior, and then for six years was superior at Shreveport.

Frances (Ball) Turner
Vancouver, WA