Charity Sr. Paula Gonzalez and the solar car she built, "Sunny." (Photo courtesy Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati)
This story appears in the Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy feature series. View the full series.
by Sharon Abercrombie
August 9, 2016
Environmentalists are mourning the death of Charity Sr. Paula Gonzalez, a Cincinnati nun who spent the last 45 years of her life advocating for renewable energy. Gonzalez, 83, died July 31 at the Charity Sisters' Ohio motherhouse.
Born on Oct. 25 1932, in Albuquerque, N.M., Gonzalez entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1954. She later earned a Ph.D. in cellular physiology from the Catholic University of America and taught biology at Mount St. Joseph University, in Cincinnati, from 1965-1980 before becoming involved full time in environmental ministry.