Juanita Rios joined St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith as an affiliate during evening praise Dec. 15. Rios was born in McAllen, Texas, and graduated from St. Mary College in Leavenworth, Kan., in 1994 with bachelor’s degrees in history and theology. She also attended Iowa Western Community College in Clarinda, Iowa, and earned her practical nursing degree in 2001. She received her nursing license in 2002.
Rio currently lives in El Dorado Springs, Mo., where she works at a pre-teen and teen hospital, Heartland Behavioral Health Hospital in Nevada, Mo.
An affiliate is a woman who visits the community a few times and is seriously considering entering the Benedictine community.
