Meet Mary

Mary Sorteberg grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was a Lutheran pastor who had a passion for the inner city and worked much of his life to empower communities and fight for justice in struggling and impoverished neighborhoods.

After earning a degree in English from St. Olaf College, Mary traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps--a year long program dedicated to simple living, spiritual community, and direct service. Mary worked and lived in inner city D.C. serving homeless women. While in D.C., living on a small monthly stipend, Mary was saving money with the hope of traveling to Calcutta, India, to work with Mother Teresa's sisters.

This dream of going to India was realized in 1990 and Mary spent 4 months working at Kalighat, the home for the dying, in Calcutta. Kalighat is a home where the homeless, who would otherwise die on the street, are brought to this sacred and peaceful place to be loved and cared for in their final days.

Mary's work in D.C. and India were powerful, life-changing experiences that led her to pursue a degree in Nursing.

After Mary and Jeff were married and moved to Portland, Mary obtained her Nursing degree, and she currently works at Providence Portland Medical Center. In 1999, Mary traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico with Northwest Medical Teams to help with cataract surgeries for the poor.

Mary is active with the Oregon Nurses Association. Mary and Jeff have two children--Jonathan, age 12 and Brynne, age 10--and Sadie, their fearless and mighty Airedale.

More from Mary