(http://www.sisterkarencenter.org/)

Abraham Lincoln believed that all individuals had the right to be respected. Whether that individual was rich or poor, educated or not, and regardless of color. Lincoln came from very humble beginnings. As our Founding Fathers before him, he knew that if he worked hard, educated himself and gained the respect he deserved as a person, he could accomplish whatever he aspired to be. These characteristics are what made him a hero and a role model. He gave hope to all Americans and he showed all Americans that if they worked hard and respected each other, they also could strive for the American dream.

The person I chose as my “Lincoln Hero” is Sister Karen Klimczak, SSJ, of Buffalo, New York. Like Lincoln, she also believed that all individuals deserved to be respected. She devoted her life to giving non-violent parolees a second chance at living an honest life. As with Lincoln, her life was dedicated to the service of others. Both Lincoln and Sister Karen were part of wars in America. Lincoln’s war was to free slaves and to unite America. Sister Karen’s war was against drugs and violence. Both individuals strove for peace. Like Lincoln, Sister Karen was murdered as a result of her work. On Good Friday, April 14, 2006 (141 years almost to the day of Lincoln’s assassination), Sister Karen was killed by an individual she was trying to help. While high on drugs, Craig Lynch, a parolee, stole Sister Karen’s cell phone and murdered her. He left her in a shallow grave to be found on Easter morning. Like Lincoln, Sister Karen had a premonition that her life would end violently. She wrote this in her diary in the 1990s. She also wrote that she forgave her attacker.

Like Lincoln, Sister Karen has impacted the lives of so many in the city of Buffalo, New York and in Erie County. She started the “Nonviolence Begins With Me” and “I Leave PeacePrints” White Dove campaign. These words are printed on white doves and are displayed on yard signs, billboards, tee shirts and on anything that will spread the word on non-violence. She gave hope to communities where sometimes there is so little. She once said, “You leave your fingerprints on everything. We need to be people who leave imprints of peace wherever we go in our world”.

My search to find a contemporary hero like Abraham Lincoln was difficult. Thoughts of Martin Luther King and John and Robert Kennedy came to mind. But no one came close to Lincoln who united a nation. Abraham Lincoln was a simple man who faced so many obstacles in his life. People can relate to him because he wasn’t a glamorous person, just an honest person who adored his family and loved his country. Lincoln, and all who fought and died for this country, believed in the pursuit of equality and freedom for all Americans.