Creator Jane DeDecker, far left, watches with others as her sculpture of Sr. Mary Roch Rocklage, RSM, is put in place on the campus of Mercy St. Louis. The monument depicts three stages of Sr. Rocklage's life.
The life and service of Sr. Mary Roch Rocklage, RSM, are commemorated in a sculpture that was unveiled Aug. 24 on the campus of Mercy St. Louis at The Mercy Center for Performance Medicine & Specialty Care.
Colorado artist Jane DeDecker was commissioned to sculpt Sr. Rocklage. Affectionately known as "Sr. Roch," Sr. Rocklage created Mercy's integrated health care system. She also anticipated the need to transition leadership of the Sisters of Mercy Health
System to lay leaders and guided that work over several years. In 2014, CHA honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Sr. Rocklage died in August 2022.
The sculpture's name is "Permeating Presence," a description Sr. Rocklage often used for Mercy leaders. The statue represents three stages of her life: as a young Sister of Mercy, as a health care leader and as a prayerful matriarch.