Sister Concetta Scipione was a young nun in her native Italy working with orphans, troubled young women and boarding students when her life changed forever. "I was asked to come to America,'' Scipione said in a 1997 Times story. "I wanted to help. What we do is for God's glory."

Scipione came to America -- Clarks, Louisiana, to be exact -- to care for mentally challenged children with the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows. She worked first in Clarks before moving to Shreveport in December of 1966 to join the staff at Holy Angels.