3329282837.jpg &&& Sister Teresa Ann Walsh was more than just a dedicated gardener. She found a spirituality in being in a garden that was reflected in the prayer card at her funeral: "You're nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on Earth." Sister Teresa Ann, a pediatric nurse who in addition to being famous for her tomatoes cared for poor mothers and their children for over 55 years as a nun, died Jan. 6. She was 83 and lived in Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg, Md. She was born in Philadelphia the sixth of the seven children of Anna Irene Connell and Richard Francis Walsh. She used to say that she benefited from the wisdom of her older siblings in a tight-knit family. She attended St. Martin of Tours parochial school and Little Flower High School, graduating in 1943. She attended St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia and received her nursing degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1953. She concentrated on pediatrics and social work. She received a master's degree in nursing administration for obstetrics and mother and child care in 1967. Sister Teresa Ann entered the Daughters of Charity order in 1954 at St. Joseph's Provincial House, Emmitsburg, Md. Her first mission was at the Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Mass., from 1955 to 1960. She was a nurse supervisor in the pediatric and maternity wards. She worked at the Astor Home for Children in Rhinebeck, N.Y., from 1960 to 1963, and St. Mary's Hospital in Saginaw, Mich., from 1963 to 1965. In September 1967, she was a nurse instructor at St. Joseph's College in Emmitsburg, providing practical experience for students at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. In 1971, she returned to nursing at Villa Louise in Timonium, Md., for a year, and then became the maternity-ward supervisor at Sacred Heart Hospital in Cumberland, Md., until 1976. In 1975, Sister Teresa Ann worked two weeks at Seton Hospital in California when the nurses went on strike. She put in 12-hour days in the emergency room until the strike was settled. Sister also enjoyed ministering in parishes. She served at Our Lady of the Valley in Gloverville, S.C., from 1985 to 1990, and St. Martin's Parish in Baltimore from 1990 to 1999. She retired to Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg in August 2006. She is survived by a sister, Anna May Cuitta, and a brother, Ed Walsh. Services: Were last Tuesday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg. Donations may be made to the Daughters of Charity Support Fund for the Elderly and Infirm Sisters, 333 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Md., 21727.