Sister Sheila Lyne, a daughter of Kerry emigrants, headed Chicago’s Public Health Department during the AIDS crisis and increased funding for HIV prevention. She made decisions that helped save lives such as the distribution of condoms even though these were contrary to Catholic teaching. Sr Sheila, who died recently at the age of 83, also worked for nearly 30 years as president and chief executive of the city’s oldest hospital, the Mercy Hospital. John P Daley, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, and Mary Ellen Caron, who worked with Sr Sheila for many years, spoke to Jerry about a truly remarkable person.
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