Woman with local ties takes perpetual vows as a Dominican

By Veronica Ambuul

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Sister Mary Imelda Ohotnicky, a former parishioner of Immaculate Conception Parish in Security, was one of eight Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia who professed perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience on July 25 at Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. 

Sister Mary Imelda is the daughter of Peter and Sherry Ohotnicky, who previously resided in Colorado Springs and now live in Michigan. She has a twin sister, Colette, as well as five siblings. She graduated from Kolbe Academy Homeschool and Aquinas College in Nashville.

Sister Mary Imelda professed her first vows on July 28, 2017. She is currently teaching second grade at St. Vincent de Paul School in Denver.

Peter Ohotnicky is a 1992 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and served a 25-year career in the Air Force, retiring at the rank of Colonel. During his career, he served as Director of Communications for the Dean of Faculty and twice as Assistant Professor of Physics at the Air Force Academy.

Since retiring from the Air Force, he has largely worked in the field of education and currently serves as headmaster of the Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Detroit.

Sherry Ohotnicky grew up in New Jersey and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993 with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering. The couple met while studying for their master’s degrees at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

The Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia is based in Nashville. The order is dedicated to Catholic education and serves in 53 schools throughout the United States. The community of 300 sisters also has mission houses in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, British Columbia; Bracciano, Italy; Elgin, Scotland, Sittard, The Netherlands, and Limerick, Ireland.

For more information on the congregation, visit www.nashvilledominican.org.