force in setting up the first AIDS hospice in a small US town.

And Miss Ethelyn Tucker, now known as Sister Fabian of The Precious Blood Convent in Shillington, Pennsylvania, this week told The Royal Gazette this was just a part of her calling.

The former Elliott Primary and Sandys Secondary student left Bermuda in August, 1964 at the age of 25 for Shillington where she entered the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood where she spent the next three years.

Coming from a religious background, Sister Fabian said she found it easy to fit into the southwest Pennsylvania community of some 5,000 people.

In fact, after obtaining her nursing licence she returned to Shillington to work first with the Social Action Bureau of the Diocese of Allentown to help the poor and then with junior professed sisters of the Catholic church who had taken their first vows.

Sister Fabian's desire to help others was so strong that she went on to work in a community centre for the very poor in Reading -- one of Pennsylvania's larger cities.

It was as a result of working five years -- from 1970, in Reading, that Sister Fabian realised the need for a place of comfort and dignity for those dying from AIDS.

Later she saw people she had known in Reading whose children were stricken by the deadly disease go through "very traumatic'' experiences.

"I'm ecumenical,'' Sister Fabian said. "This is not a Catholic problem or Protestant problem, but a community problem so I wrote to all church groups of churches in Reading seeking their support.'' The hospice, known as Rainbow Home, opened in 1991 after a group of 18 people with experiences of aspects of the disease came together.

The group also visited other hospices in the US before opening the facility.

Sister Fabian said Rainbow Home, which has seven residents, is similar to Agape House.

Two of the residents are terminally ill with cancer and have no where else to go.

And the community's support has been very good.

"A lot of the foot work is done by 140 volunteers,'' she said.

In addition to starting the hospice, Sister Fabian spent two months in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as the appointed House Superior.

And upon her return to Shillington she was appointed Provincial Superior of the American Province, a position she held up to 1988.

Now most of her time is spent conducting spiritual retreats and overseeing the care of senior nuns.

Asked whether her life as a nun has been fulfilling, she said: "It's been more than I thought it would be. I'm overwhelmed by the wonder of it all, the community and the sisters.

"I've learnt a lot about people -- the sense of loving people and being concerned about whether they are happy or hurting.'' Sister Fabian, who last visited Bermuda in July, 1991, hopes to return to the Island next year.

It will be a return favour for four of her old high school friends, Mrs.

Ianthe Eve, Mrs. Angelena Harvey, Ms Leola Stovell, and Mrs. Juliette Tucker, who attended her Silver Jubilee celebration in Shillington last November.

Miss Ethelyn Tucker, better known as Sister Fabian of The Precious Blood Convent in Pennsylvania.