Seiker Award

2022 Seiker Award Recipient: Joan Merlo ASH'72

Joan has been a Sheridan Road Alumni Association (SRAA) board member since 2015, the last two years as president. She helped move the board forward through the challenges of the pandemic. She sees her board service as “an example of one individual doing what they can by showing up and being involved and present.” She sees the work of the SRAA as primarily community building, reaching out to alumni, providing programing and encouraging participation and contribution, whether monetary or by personal presence. 

What Joan appreciates most about her experience as a Sacred Heart student is the teachers’ attention to detail, beauty and aesthetics. Students were taught to be respectful of others' space and possessions. Politeness and silence were valued. But so was active, lively thinking.

“I can remember entering our classroom on the first day of school. The nuns would have drawings and beautiful calligraphic writing on the black board in gorgeous, deep colored chalk. There was teaching in everything. When we did a play, it was an operetta with music and costumes. The Hardey boys did full Gilbert & Sullivan productions! There were annual, seasonal rituals which I think are very important for children, like the Lily procession on December 8th and the Advent practices. There was a very deliberate and conscious way of doing everything and of thinking about things. These habits of thinking and doing left a very strong impression in me and have stayed with me.”

After graduating from Sacred Heart, Joan attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, obtaining a bachelor's degree in Italian. She served as a congressional aide to U.S. Representative Sidney R. Yates for several years. Later, she worked in the motion picture industry as a production coordinator. Taking time off to stay home with her two sons, Joan was involved in fundraising and volunteer work and was a founder of the parent teacher organization at the boys' elementary school. Today she works in finance for a third-party insurance administrator and is an associate member of the TUTA theater company. She continues to study theater and has enjoyed singing in numerous church choirs over the years.

When asked about the true value of a Sacred Heart education today, Joan said, “I think the world can be affected most by the actions and attitudes of individuals. The responsibility to be kind, analytical and alert is ours. That's something we can each do.  If we can find a way to do more, that's great!”

Her advice for the Sacred Heart community is to try to leave each person with whom you come into contact encouraged, not discouraged. Never use fear to accomplish what you want. “We must monitor ourselves and our motives every day without fear. This reflection is for me part of my faith practice. I think if we can notice what's driving us, we have a chance to leave the world a little better each day.”