Please join us on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at LaRoy’s Hall in La Salle, MI for our Annual Focus on Life Benefit Dinner. We will be featuring special guest speakers Sr. Deirdre “Dede” Byrne, religious sister, renowned surgeon, and U.S. Army colonel and Leisa Marie Carzon, Ph.D., Author of Sister, Soldier, Surgeon: The Life and Courage of Sister Deidre Byrne, M.D. Questions? Call Robert Burke at (517) 215-8041 or e-mail [email protected]. Hosted by Monroe County Right to Life.
RegisterSr. Deirdre "Dede" Byrne
Meet a modern-day Joan of Arc. Whether in scrubs, camouflage, or a religious habit, Sr. Dede Byrne, in her threefold calling as a professed religious sister, renowned surgeon, and U.S. Army colonel, is a model of virtue and action.
Sister Deirdre Byrne is an active missionary sister and superior of her community in Washington, DC, Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts. She is double board-certified in family medicine and general surgery. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Sister Deirdre (known to many as Sister Dede) is one of eight siblings, attended Langley High School, and graduated from Virginia Tech. After college, Sister Dede followed in her thoracic surgeon father’s footsteps and entered medical school at Georgetown University, where she eventually completed a surgical residency. During that time, she also joined the United States Army and has since retired with the rank of Colonel after 29 years of service in the military.
Today, Sr. Byrne runs a pro-bono physical therapy and medical clinic in the lower level of a convent in Washington, D.C., making it part of her vocation to help women reverse the effects of mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug frequently given to women as the first of a series of abortion pills.
Leisa Marie Carzon, Ph.D.
Author of Sister, Soldier, Surgeon: The Life and Courage of Sister Deidre Byrne, M.D., Leisa Marie Carzon, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of education and Catholic School Leadership Graduate Program Director, president and chairman of the board of a Catholic health-care clinic, president of Plymouth Right to Life, and founder of the Aquinas Education Fund. She has served as the development executive for the Dominica Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, a consultant for Catholic nonprofit organizations, and a State Director for CatholicVote. She sings opera and oratorio as a coloratura soprano and is a blessed wife and mother.
Event Schedule
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
5:30 p.m. doors open
7:00 p.m. dinner & program
Reservations
$65 Individual
$425 Table of 8
Register by October 1.
Location
LaRoy's Hall
12375 S Telegraph Rd
La Salle, MI 48145