The family later settled in Whanganui and Lorraine received her education from the Sisters of St Joseph. The Walsh family were active in local activities. Prior to entering the Congregation, Lorraine, with her sister Marion, moved to Wellington and were employed in a munitions factory in Petone. After the war, she had a position with an accountancy business gaining bookkeeping skills which she would apply later in Religious life. Lorraine was 28 years old when she entered the Sisters of Compassion and on Reception into the Noviciate received the name of Martin.

After Profession, Lorraine qualified as a State Registered Nurse and for a short time nursed at the Island Bay Hospital. Thereafter, she had appointments as Community Bursar in Jerusalem-Hiruhārama, Whanganui, and Island Bay.

Sister Martin had an outgoing personality, loved Community life, and showed great interest in local and international affairs. She was an avid reader, a keen radio listener, and gained much knowledge and information through television documentaries. Her participation in community events and gatherings during the 1950s and 1960s gave her great joy and pleasure.

Her thoughtfulness and dedication to writing letters, especially to Sisters who were assigned overseas appointments, was quite extraordinary. Birthdays, special celebrations, significant events would all be given attention either by a hand-written letter or a short note on a pretty card. As a community leader, her hospitality and kindness towards visitors was generous and accommodating. People were important to her, especially her family members. She attended to people’s needs in a compassionate and loving way, ever open to doing an extra act of kindness.

Sister Martin spent the early part of her retirement years in the Aubert Home in Whanganui. In 2012, when this Home closed, she was transferred into care at St Joseph’s Home in Heretaunga, where she died peacefully

Born                   Entered                Professed               Died            Place of Death           Place of Burial

28.08.1922     21.02.1948            15.09.1950        18.08.2012          Wellington             Karori Cemetery