Meet Our Sisters

Sister Joyce Hylazewski

At a Glance

Mission Locations: Bolivia

Areas of Work: Social Work, Healthcare, Prison Ministry

My Background

My name is Sister Joyce. I was born March 23, 1950 in Pittsburgh, PA to Virginia (Kobulinsky) Hylazewski and Barney Hylazewski, I also had one brother, Dennis. After graduating from St. James Elementary and Sacred Heart High School in 1974 in Pittsburgh, I attenI earned a certificate in Secretleft000arial skills in 1970. In 1974, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Duquesne University, then worked in Columbia Hospital Forbes System in Pittsburgh from 1974-75. I continued my work as a medical technologist in Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C. from 1975-1980.

I entered the Congregation on August 23, 1980 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. I pronounced First Vows June 19, 1982 at Maryknoll, NY and Final Vows April 7, 1989 in Bolivia.

Overview of Mission Work

Sister Joyce received her first assignment to Bolivia in 1982. After language school she went to Montero, Bolivia where she worked with Mothers’ Clubs for two years.

In 1984, Sister Joyce worked in Capinota, a rural town outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia, where she served as a Pastoral Minister in the local parish for six years.

From 1990 until 1992, Sister Joyce (along with another Maryknoll Sister) served as a Pastoral Minister in the rural Quechua village of Sicaya along the Arque River. She has shared this story about her time serving in the village:

In the rainy season the Arque River swells and rages so the option to get from Capinota to Sicaya is to take a local train and disembark in the village of Higuerani which is across the river opposite Sicaya. Then the Sisters wait on the riverbank (sometimes for an hour) for a campesino (who is an expert in “reading the waters”) to come by. In order not to be swept away by the strong current, the Sisters hold tightly to a shirt tied around his waist as they step into the water. Thanks to his help, the Sisters can finally make their way safely through the Arque River to Sicaya.

In 1992, Sister Joyce again returned to Capinota to minister in Pastoral work for three years. She then moved to Sacaba in 1996, and did social work type ministry with the women in San Sabastian prison in Cochabamba for one year.

In 1997, Sister Joyce returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY to give Congregational Service as one of the Rogers coordinators at the Center until 2001.

2001 – 2008 Sister Joyce worked in Solidaridad (Solidarity) from 2001 until 2008, a very broad ministry in that it involved facilitating medical attention for the poor, handicapped children and the sick. The office also had school supply program, and members of Solidaridad visited their clients in their homes and in the hospital. Because the Chaplain of the Hospital asked Sr. Joyce to help train Bolivian seminarians and lay people in how to visit patients in the Hospital, she did that also.

From 2008 – 2025, Sister Joyce was on what Maryknoll Sisters call: Family Ministry. Sr. Joyce cared for both her Father and Mother until their deaths.