Sister Venard Venus, Feb. 13, 1910-Aug. 26, 2009

Eulogist: Mary Jo Thummel, CSJ

Vigil: Aug. 27, 2009

Lord, keep me working, keep me fit,
At windows I don’t want to sit.
Watching my fellows hurrying by;
Let me stay busy till I die.
Grant me strength, breath, and will,
A need to serve and a task to do.
Let me each morning rise anew
Eager and glad that I can bear
My portion of the morning care.
Lord, I don’t want to sit about
broken and tired and all worn out;
Afraid of rain, and wind and cold;
Let me stay busy when I am old.
Although I walk at a slower pace
Still let me meet life face to face
This is my prayer as time goes by.
Lord, keep me busy till I die.
This is my prayer as time goes by.

This prayer/poem comes from a notebook in which Sr. Venard had collected prayers, sayings, a retreat note or two and other memorabilia that were meaningful to her life. This evening we gather as community, family and friends to remember and celebrate Sr. Venard’s life as we knew it.

Sr. Venard Venus was born February 13, 1910 on a farm south of Gorham, Kansas. Her parents were John Wesley and Johanna Elizabeth Donovan. She was given the name Mabel Cecilia. Her two brothers, Raymond and Chester and her sister Beatrice Steinert all preceded her in death.

For her first four years of school , Mabel attended Winterset School. This was a one room schoolhouse a mile and half from her home, to which she walked daily. One vivid recollection of these years was of a bitter cold day when Mabel was staying with her cousin because her Mother was in Mayo Clinic. She says, “No one came to get us and we were almost frozen little girls by the time we got home. “

During that summer Mabel’s Mother was in Mayo’s, and Sister Eucharista, her mother and brothers came to live with them.

True to her middle name of Cecilia, Mabel started piano lessons at the age of 7. Her teacher was Sister Domitilla and she was always glad to see her come to the door because she spoke English better than the rest. (Most of the people in Gorham spoke German at that time, as did the Sisters.) Mabel’s father played the violin and taught her to cord with some of his pieces. The first piece she remembers playing with him was “Over the Waves”.

At the age of 9, Mabel and her family moved to Longmont Colorado. There she was taught by the Franciscan sisters until she graduated high school in 1927.

Though she says nothing about this in her life review, I know that in 1924 she had a run in with a car and her right ankle was injured. The injury healed but left her with stiffness and a limp in that leg. I never knew it to slow her down or hinder anything she set her mind to doing.

After graduating high school, Mabel stayed home for 2 years and worked and continued her music. In the fall of 1929 she went to Mary mount. It was there that she decided to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph. Here is what she says about that event. “I was there only one year, but even that was a big sacrifice for my parents, for which I am deeply grateful. For it was at Marymount that my final decision to be a Sister of St. Joseph was made. Mother Chrysostom was the one who helped me. I left home on Aug. 31, 1930, spent time with relatives and on Sunday, Sept. 7, in the company of Mother Chrysostom, Sister Joseph Marie and Sister Collette, the trip to Concordia was made. There are memories, of course, but one stands at the close of the day. I lay on my bed, crossed my arms, and knowing that I wanted to give myself totally to God, – I told Him I was ready to die.”

Sr. Venard makes no mention of how she came to have the name Venard and I don’t know that story.

Sr. Venard mentions only a few of missions on which she served and a significant memory or memories attached to each. Her first mission experience was in Herndon and she speaks of coping with the dust storms there and of how she taught music but also taught 6th and 8th grades when Sister Concordia had to go to the hospital.

She also mentions returning to the Motherhouse, during that time, in order to be there the specified time before pronouncing temporary vows on August 15th, 1936. Sr. Venard’s band members who pronounced vows with her were: Sr. Ann Loretta Moore, Sr. Marie Norbertine Dreiling, Sr. Carmella Heidrick and Mother Therese Marie Stafford.

After pronouncing vows, Sr. Venard was to have her first home visit, but since it was so close to the beginning to the new school year Mother Rose asked her if she would wait one more year. If she would, Mother Rose promised her a month at home. Mother Rose was true to her word and Sister Eucharista and Sister Venard went home from July 9 to Aug. 9, 1937. This was the only home visit Sr. Venard had with her mother as she died to following January.

The next mission experience that Sr. Venard mentions is Lake Linden because it was there that she had the distinction of being invited to teach Latin in the Public High school. She was always proud of that accomplishment and of the students whose lives she touched there. An appreciative student (on the occasion of her 50th Jubilee) had this to say, “I knew you, Sister Venard some thirteen years ago in God’s Country, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You were my Latin teacher, I know, but too, you were something more than that. You were an understanding, sympathetic and most rewarding teacher I had ever known. Your prayers for me each day were for someone who need them, and those prayers, I feel brought to me many high lights in my life.” This student has kept in touch with Sr. Venard all these years and remarked when told of her death that she was someone he loved.

Of the last mission she was on Sr. Venard says, “My last sixteen years on mission were spent in Oakley, KS. Even after retiring, I helped with the Liturgies and became involved in Bible Study groups, and activities in the parish. I left there with many beautiful memories.”
People there also had beautiful memories of Sr. Venard. Mayor Mona Close proclaimed May 3rd, 1991 as Sr. Venard Venus day in Oakley, KS. Her proclamation lauds Sr. Venard for playing an important role in the leadership of the community in basic human, moral, and spiritual foundations…strengthening the school by starting a fourth, fifth and sixth grade band….visiting the sick and homebound…constant care of the prayer board, liturgy planning and participation in bible study.

Along with the missions which she mentioned, Sister Venard also served on our Kansas missions in Salina, Damar, Leoville, Beloit, Park, Junction City, Tipton, and in Chicago and St. George Illinois and Grand Island Nebraska.

Music, of course, was Sister Venard’s priority and her teaching ranged from Kindergarten through High School.

She had a BME in music education from Marymount College and a MME in music education from Chicago Music College in Chicago, Illinois.

I lived with Sr. Venard in Lake Linden, Michigan. After a bout of locking horns, we became fast friends. She had an all school (1st through 8th grades) marching band that won all kinds of awards throughout the Upper Peninsula. The parents help design and make the uniforms and we were all proud of how good our School Band sounded and looked and, of course, Sr. Venard beamed with pride. I was always amazed that she taught music theory from Kindergarten on up and got her grade school bands to sound so good. She commanded respect and yet the youngsters had fun. I wonder how far the used instruments that she collected, cleaned and repaired would reach if placed end to end. It was a whole education to me to see the many parts each instrument had and to watch Sr. Venard patiently take them apart, clean them, and get mellow tones to emerge.

Sr. Venard and I crossed paths once more in Oakley. We worked together there on the musicals she produced. She did the music, of course, and I designed the programs. I have kept some of those works of art and seeing them always brings back fond memories. One memory I have from Oakley, with regards to music, was when a very monotone 5th grade boy was determined to canter for the children’s Masses. Instead of discouraging this young man, Sr. Venard worked with him all through the 5th and 6th grades before he left for public school. A number of years later, when he was in college, I heard Richard sing at his grandfather’s funeral. His voice was rich and full and he sounded wonderful. This is only one of the many acts of encouragement and caring I witnessed Sr. Venard perform with the young and later the old. She was a loyal pianist and accompanists for services in nursing homes and hospital when we were in Oakley and encouraged me in my ability to put together and lead the services.

Along with her musical talents, Sr. Venard was a craftswoman. She crocheted, made fancy pin cushions out of tuna cans, crafted scratchers from milk jug handles and nylon netting, made Christmas ornaments and many other things out of plastic canvas. She even took on bigger projects like helping Father Dion set up the listening lab in Lake Linden where students could use study corrals and headsets to learn foreign languages. It was a sad day for her when she had to lay aside her craft projects because her hands had become too arthritic. Most of what she made, she gave away.

She taught me to crochet and to read crochet patterns while we were in Michigan and was a very patient teacher. I have always been grateful for her calling forth this talent in me. Many a Christmas stocking has been filled because she taught me this skill. Actually she encouraged and mentored me in many areas and my life is enriched because of her.

Sr. Venard had a great love of live and adventure and wasn’t afraid to try anything new. We ventured together to many craft fairs, county fairs, corn festivals, hot air balloon festivals, and card clubs, to name a few. I know she really wanted a ride in a hot air balloon and I think that wish was fulfilled. The fun was in the adventure, the challenge, the trip and those who accompanied her.

People loved doing things for Sr. Venard. She was generous with them and they were generous in return.

One of the highlights in her life was the little care packages Dick Lewis (Sister Eucharista’s nephew) sent her and which she gleefully shared with others.

She also appeared small and helpless. Note I said appeared. Actually, Sr. Venard was anything but helpless. She could hold her own in any situation and back down people who appeared much larger and stronger than she. Not many days went by that she didn’t give me one of her looks and a “much about you” or some other admonition, but I didn’t experience her staying upset for long.

Sr. Venard had this to say about life, “Life for me is an awareness of where I am and what I am about conscious of what is around me. I am absorbed in it.”

In these last months, Sr. Venard had to surrender her life little by little but I know she never let go of trying to pray or be present to God in prayer. Her rosary was constantly in her hands and she appreciated an Our Father or Hail Mary being prayed at her bedside. Many of the things she put into the notebook which she gave me had to do with her spiritual life. In her life review she has this to say on that subject, “Of all the retreats I have made, there are 2 which I really treasure as having a great influence on my prayer life. The first one was given by the Jesuits – Fathers Campbell and McMahon. It was on the different types of prayer. Although I didn’t call it Centering Prayer – I think it was my introduction to it. For, being near Lake Superior, I could sit on the shore and spend the afternoon absorbed in the beauty of God’s world. But I didn’t realize what a beautiful prayer it was until that retreat. The other retreat was given by Father Frank Hoelck. During Mass at the close of retreat, each retreatant knelt on a predieu in the aisle before the altar with Father and Sister Bette Moslander on either side. After renewing vows, Father gave a blessing and spoke of something that was important to me in the retreat. That renewal of vows touched me in ways I can’t explain.”

Sr. Venard’s last Commitment to Mission Statement states: “As I enter into my 100th year of life, I peacefully look to God’s presence in prayer, knowing that all is in God’s hands.”

Sr. Venard finished her life review (written on Tuesday, August 12, 1997) with these words, “ I will finish with the same thought as I did on my jubilee in 1991—The journey which began on Sept.7, 1930, continues and, through the people and events in my life, I know that God walks with me. I listen and witness with my life.”

On the last page on her notebook Sr. Venard has a Resolution written. I believe it might have been something she wrote herself but I can’t be sure. I’d like to share it with you.

My Resolution
I won’t look back,
God knows the fruitless efforts,
the wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets;
I’ll leave them all with Him
who blots the record,
and mercifully forgives,
And then forgets.

I won’t look forward; God sees
all the future,
The road that, short or long,
will lead me home,
and he will face with me it every trial,
and bear with me the burdens that may come.

But I’ll look up — into
the face of Jesus,
for there my heart can rest,
my fears are stilled;
and there is joy and love,
and light for darkness,
and perfect peace,
and every hope fulfilled.

Thank you Sr. Venard for listening and witnessing with your life for 99 years. We are glad you have looked up into the face of Jesus and found joy, love, light, and peace and that your every hope will now be fulfilled.

Sister Ann Loretta Moore, Aug. 14, 1910-Feb. 23, 2009

Eulogy for Sister Ann Loretta Moore
Sister of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas
Eulogist: Sister Norma Schlick
Vigil: Feb. 25, 2009

Many of us know that Sister Ann Loretta hailed from the “show me state” of Missouri, and true to form she asked me to write her eulogy and show it to her before her death. So tonight for a brief time I will share with you this pre-approved and nicely packaged story of her life.

She was, indeed, from Missouri, born to John and Frances Koenig Moore on Aug. 14, 1910. She was given the name of Lucille at baptism in the St. Lawrence Church in Monett. In her family, now all deceased, she had five sisters, Mary, Frances, Margaret, Loretta and Agnes, an infant who died at birth. Her three brothers were John, Joseph, and Clarence.

Sister Ann Loretta described her family life this way: “My parents were good, religious, hardworking people and were my greatest inspiration. They taught us to work and to love one another.” She maintained strong bonds with her family throughout her life, enjoying many visits to her sisters and families in Oklahoma and Missouri. Sister Ann Loretta always carried with her the pain of losing her sister, Loretta, at age 14.

This happened in 1929 after Sister entered Nazareth Convent as a postulant. She was given the choice of going home for the funeral and a time away with her family or remaining as a postulant. She left at that time and returned to her home. She entered again a year later in1930.

Sister Ann Loretta’s early education was with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Monett. All through high school she felt a deep desire to enter religious life and she prayed daily for this vocation. She had great devotion to the Blessed Mother and asked for her guidance. The rosary was her favorite prayer throughout her life.

Relative to her request to enter in Concordia, her pastor in Monett wrote on her behalf: “Lucille Anna Moore was born here and always lived here, so to Monett her life is an open book without stain or shadow. I hope she will be suited to religious life and that it will suit her.” After re-entering the community in 1930, she was happy to receive the name of Ann Loretta in honor of her sister. She received the habit on Aug. 15, 1930, made first vows in 1932 and final vows in 1935.

Sister Ann Loretta’s entire religious life centered around nursing and health care. In 1932 she began nurses’ training at St. Joseph Hospital in Concordia, then located at the site of the present Manna House. She completed the three year course in 1935, earned her R.N. and continued to serve at that hospital until 1939. Her other mission assignments then took her to EI Paso, Texas, and to hospitals in Sabetha, Atwood, again to Concordia, and Manhattan, Kansas and to Belvidere, Illinois.

As a professional obstetrical nurse, Sister Ann Loretta was a department supervisor in many of the places in which she served. In later years she fondly recalled the times she assisted at births and saved a number of babies from death in infancy. One birth in particular stood out for her. In Belvidere she assisted in the birth of a baby weighing less than two pounds. The doctor was not enthusiastic about the chances of the child surviving. Sister took charge and gave the infant one drop of milk at a time and nursed it into life. The baby, baptized immediately, was named Mary Ann. In recent years, after correspondence over a long period of time, it gave Sister Ann Loretta great joy to meet this baby again in the person of Mary Ann and her husband, Harold Henning, who came to visit her in Concordia. Sister Ann Loretta never tired of telling this story.

Later in life, Sister Ann Loretta put her nursing skills to good use serving elderly people, often visiting them in their homes. She spent several years living with Sister Dolorine helping to care for Sister’s elderly mother. In Stafford Hall and the Motherhouse she often volunteered to sit with the dying until her own failing health no longer allowed her to do so. At the age of 94, Sister Ann Loretta accepted the new assignment of becoming a resident of Mount Joseph Nursing Home in Concordia. This was a difficult transition for her, but she appreciated the nursing assistance she received there and she enjoyed the many visits and support of other members of the community.

As a native of Missouri, a fact we referred to earlier, she retained her outspoken attitude when dealing with life in general, a trait that might remind us of another Missourian, Harry Truman. She loved sports of all kinds and never tired of watching games on TV played by her beloved St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. She kept abreast of the individual statistics of team members and often could be found saying the rosary for them during the games. She loved for them to win!

On a more serious note, Sister Ann Loretta was a very prayerful person who faced her own last illness and death with dignity, and she accepted her sufferings, uniting them with the sufferings of Jesus. She died at Mount Joseph on Feb. 23, 2009, at the age of 98. We pray that she is now united with Jesus in his resurrected life for all eternity.

Sister Colleen Stover, Jan. 9, 1937-Feb. 14, 2009

Eulogy for Sister Colleen Stover
Sister of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas
Vigil: Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009
Eulogist: Sister Janice Koelzer
Eulogy written by: Sister Beth Stover

On Feb. 14, 2009, Jesus reached out his hand to Sister Colleen and she grabbed it. At 2:20 a.m. Jesus took her into his gentle loving arms and guided her to her eternal life.

Colleen Ann Stover was born on the family farm northwest of Beloit, Kan., on a cold snowy Jan. 9, 1937, the third daughter of Paul (Mike) and Marie Grennan Stover. Whenever Colleen talked about her faith, she included that in spite of the bitter cold and deep snow drifts, the very next day after she was born, her parents took her to St. John’s Catholic Church in Beloit to be baptized. Her mother and dad wanted her to be a “child of God” as soon as possible! Colleen was the middle child in a family of five girls —Mary Ellen, Dolores, Jane, and Beth. Colleen brought to this family of “high achievers” a gentle, loving, caring spirited presence. This quality of presence is how Sister Colleen lived out her ministry as a Sister of St. Joseph as described by her students, teens she counseled, co-workers, the elderly she visited, her friends and her family.

Colleen attended a one-room school 1 mile from the family farm for four years. She finished her grade and high school at St. John’s in Beloit, graduating in 1955. Colleen was always proud that in the fifth grade she won first prize in the Salina Diocese CYO essay contest on “Why I Should Be a Good Catholic.” She was the envy of her sisters when she brought home her own white radio as the first prize and proudly placed it in the bedroom she shared with her sisters Jane and Beth! Perhaps that was a precursor for her future education and ministry in Speech and Drama!

She furthered her education with the Sisters of St. Joseph, graduating from Marymount College, Salina, in 1959 with a BA in Speech and Drama. As a senior, Colleen was a candidate for the prestigious “Miss Marymount.” Both Colleen and her college roommate, Rose Mary Stein, knew they were called to a vocation in religious life — Rose Mary as a Sister of St. Dominic and Colleen as a Sister of St. Joseph.

Colleen entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia on Sept. 8, 1959, received the religious habit and was given the name, Sister Paul Mary on March 19, 1960. Colleen pronounced her final vows on March 19, 1966. Her band members are Jeanne McKenna, Rita Plante, Veronica Baxa, and her sister, Beth.

Sister Paul Mary taught 22 years at high schools of the Salina Diocese at Nazareth Convent and Academy-Concordia, St. Xavier High School-Junction City, and 18 of those years at Sacred Heart High School in Salina. Sr. Paul Mary’s students excelled in regional and state debate contests, short play presentations, speech contest, and musical drama presentations. Her students knew and spoke of her gentle, accepting spirit of each one. Her study hall periods were the favorite of the football and basket ball players as they found a quiet, calm atmosphere and a ready listening heart accepting each student with their gifts and foibles.

Following Vatican II Renewal in the early 1970s Sister Paul Mary returned to her baptismal name and has since been know as Sister Colleen Stover.

Sister Colleen attended Detroit University, receiving her Masters Degree in Education in 1971.

Colleen’s profound influence on students and faculty throughout her teaching ministry was expressed when the Sacred Heart High School Year Book in 1983 was dedicated to her. I quote:

“Sr. Colleen always expressed her belief in the basic goodness of each student. She was never too busy to listen, to guide and to direct in her gentle and caring manner. Her love for the subjects she taught was always evident. The spirit of this benevolent Sister will always remain in the students and staff at Sacred Heart. Sometimes there is someone who takes time enough to listen. Someone who cares about us when we lose, And who loves us even when we are wrong. Sister Colleen is this someone.”

In March 1983, Sr. Colleen had surgery for a benign pituitary tumor, and had 25 radiation treatments to destroy any residual tumor.

In the fall of 1983, Sr. Colleen returned to teaching in the classroom at St. Xavier’s in Junction City. It was during this time that she tripped over some books in the classroom, hit her head and injured the optic blood vessel that left her blind in her left eye.

After a year of study at Berkley University-California in 1984, Sr. Colleen began a new ministry of pastoral counseling at Marymount College and chaplaincy at the Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Treatment Unit at St. John’s Hospital in Salina. No wonder she was recognized for outstanding service to the teens in the ATU. Here is how she described her vision of youth ministry:

“Give Them a Place”

Give our youth a place! A warm, loving, accepting base;
A home-based atmosphere where hearts are affirmed and self-esteem is nurtured
By caring, self-directed adults.
A place where our youth will see Love lived in daily life’s trials in our many well-traveled miles
On the journey to Eternal Life.
A place where they will feel “at home”; A place where activities and volunteer service bring about much self worth!
So there will be rich meaning for their time on earth.
Give our youth a place..
A place where Jesus is first in their lives, and understanding is given to tears and sighs.
A place and a time for prayer…. A place they know as… WE CARE!

From 1989 to 1993, Sister Colleen served as Pastoral Associate at Sacred Heart Cathedral-Salina
Her departing tribute described her: “Sr. Colleen was known for her unquestionable love of people and her bubbly personality in her work with Religious Education, Commissions on Education and Family Life, Hospital Visitation, and care of the homebound”.

In 1993, Sr. Colleen left the formalized ministry as she was called to be a full-time caregiver for her parents in their Beloit home. After her father’s death in 1994, she continued her mother’s care until a stroke in 1998 left her mother with debilitations that required full time nursing care.

These were both dedicated and enriching years that Sr. Colleen cherished.

Sister Colleen’s own health status began a gradual subtle decline with a diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus combined with brain diminishment from the long term effects of previous radiation treatment. Colleen’s gentle spirit and quick smile greeted caregivers and visitors during her residence at the Motherhouse and at Mt. Joseph from 1999 to 2009.

Colleen thoroughly enjoyed many hobbies which she shared with others. She played the piano and clarinet. She took pictures, organized and prepared picture albums of the annual summer family vacations, Christmas and other holiday gatherings. She enjoyed telling a good joke and hearing one as well. One of her favorite and best qualities was her gracious hospitality and entertaining guests with a warm welcome, a good meal, lovely seasonal decorations, birthday cakes, and a fun rhyming toast (personally created and given for each special occasion). Colleen enjoyed a delightful game of bridge and somehow could always find a “fourth” to play.

Sr. Colleen treasured her family and was always ready to help when any of her sisters, nieces and nephews needed her presence and her guidance. Her oldest niece, Beth, lived with Sister Colleen and attended Sacred Heart High School for a semester.

Sr. Colleen was imbued with a deep prayer and spiritual life. As Sr. Colleen participated in meetings and events of the community, she often spoke and reminded us that we are the “Congregation of the Great Love of God.” She was often extraordinary and profound in her simplicity. Peace and respect for one another was a high priority and strong value with Sr. Colleen. One of her favorite prayers was the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

While she was caregiver for her parents, she prayed daily with and for them (and others) to have “Good Health, Long Life, Deep Faith, and Continued Happiness.

We can be certain that Sr. Colleen is also praying that each of us gathered here… her Sisters of St. Joseph, her sisters and their families, her relatives, her long time friends, and those who cared for her during her last days… would have Good Health, Deep Faith, Long Life, and Continued Happiness.

Thank you, Sister Colleen, for the gift of yourself to God and to all of us.

The Mass of Resurrection and Christian Burial was Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at 10 a.m. at the Nazareth Motherhouse Sacred Heart Chapel and Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Her uncle, Father Jim Grennan presided with her cousin, Father Larry Grennan, and other diocesan priests with whom she ministered: Msgr. James Hake, Father Norb Dlabal, Father Alvin Werth, Father Ken Lohrmeyer, Father Larry Letourneau, Father Charlie Steier, and Father Jack Schlaf, Chaplain. Vigil services and the Rosary were prayed Feb. 15, 2009, at 7 p.m. at the Motherhouse in Concordia. Sister Janice Koelzer gave the eulogy written by Sister Beth Stover.

Sister Joseph Ellen Divel: July 25, 1930-Jan. 22, 2009

Eulogy for Sister Joseph Ellen Divel
Sister of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas

Vigil: Friday, January 23, 2009
Eulogist: Marcia Allen, csj

“I wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving.”

These words, written by hand in her prayer book, reveal the heart of Sister Joseph Ellen’s life. She was a woman who suffered severely, loved deeply, and above all, lived a life of joy and gratitude.
Bernadine Theresa Divel was born July 25, 1930 in Wilton, Pennsylvania. She was the third of six children born to Marian Alice Elwell and Charles Francis Divel. She is preceded in death by her parents and her sister Marian Louise Jessmore. Surviving are her sister, Peggy Woolsey, and three brothers, Joseph Richard Divel, Charles Francis Divel, and John Leo Divel, as well as nieces, nephews and cousins.
Bernadine and her family lost their mother when she was nine years old. From that time on, she cared for the home and her twin brothers, Charles and John, who were less than a year old at the time of their mother’s death. She entered high school, but eventually dropped out in order to work and help support the family. Once the twins were out of high school she was free to contemplate her own future. It was then she realized that she wanted to be a religious. Because she had a cousin, Sister Stanislaus Porter, in the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, she decided to come to Kansas.
She entered the novitiate on March 19, 1959, and made her final vows in March of 1963. She completed her GED in Concordia and proudly earned certification as a nurse aid. Through the years she participated in many works of service: as a desk receptionist and driver for the Motherhouse and nurse aide at St. Mary’s Convent for the infirm sisters in Concordia. She was on the staff of St. Joseph Children’s home in Salina, Kansas. There she loved the children, played with them, humored them, and, in general, mothered them. In Grand Island, Nebraska, she was general Jill-of-All Trades for the community of sisters. She was Sister Barbara Bader’s right hand in the Religious Education Department of the Cathedral parish. She also took up baby sitting for the parishioners. One of her special joys was caring for twins whom she usually brought to the convent. The sisters protested that they would be too much of a challenge for her, but Sister Joseph Ellen knew how to do twins. She played with them, tended them, and loved them. Her spontaneous expression of love and happiness made them perfectly at home with her!
Sister Joseph Ellen was an amazing person. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph with 15 other women. She came with a lively presence and the determination to be what she most desired. She loved music – played the accordion and harmonica, sang and danced. She kept the atmosphere filled with hearty gladness with her creative antics and ability to see the humor in the events of this new life choice. She was full of life, loved life, and her native good humor never let her take trouble too seriously. She was always able to see life within a hearty laugh. The sound of her laugh and the humor in her eyes we will long remember.
She kept a prayer book. In it she would type or write by hand the heartfelt sentiments that expressed what she was feeling from time to time. She has there page after page of self-offerings. She lived her whole life in the desire to give of herself. To summarize these prayers I quote her: “O God, I want to give myself to you so that you can grow in me.” In was in that context that she lived out a life in participation with what God desired. Her heart was firmly rooted in the belief that God would do everything needed. She had cast her lot with God; she spent her life living in a joyful realization that God would live and grow in her. That was what we who knew her experienced. She threw herself into whatever she did, not only with lively joy, but with the courage of her convictions – about God and the worth of those around her. The prayers in her book are marked with trust, and love, generous giving, and constant petitions for loved ones and those of the world who were troubled and suffering in some way.
One of her special loves was the Ted and Mary Schlick family. Sister Norma Schlick introduced her to her brother Ted and his family and a special relationship developed. In fact, the family adopted her. Father Don Larmore even drew up an adoption certificate naming her as the adopted daughter of Ted and Mary Schlick. She attended all of the Schlick family gatherings and loved to be in the center of fun at Christmas, birthdays and the Fourth of July celebrations.
Sister Joseph Ellen came in her maturity to the Sisters of St. Joseph. During her youth and young adulthood she had worked in factories, had good times with her companion workers after factory hours, dated, supported a family and raised twin boys. She was street-wise, sharply perceptive of persons, simple as a dove yet wise as a serpent! She could be counted on to know the truth of a situation and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. After all, she had lived a full life closely integrated with the world before entering the community. She had a tender heart; she encountered everyone with a glint in her eye that marked her joy in being present combined with a wisdom of insight that put them at ease. Those she met experienced her keen interest in them and knew she offered friendship. She simply loved life and immersed herself in it.
On Wednesday afternoon, the day before she died, I visited her at Mt. Joseph. I was struck by her face. It was radiant and her hair framed her head like a halo. Her whole demeanor was one of what, in retrospect, I would call an almost surreal attentiveness and peace. Her eyes were clear and she wanted to visit about an essay I had written for our monthly newsletter about a consistent life ethic. She was deeply interested and quickly made her own opinion known about the value of life – the gift of it. With her usual candor she talked about her own life, how, in spite of its many troubles, it was beautiful and how grateful she was for it. She described the joy of being a Sister of St. Joseph for so many years – 50, in fact! To sum it all up, she said how much she looked forward to celebrating her jubilee because of the gratitude and joy she had experienced throughout her life, suffering not with-standing.
Suffering she did indeed endure, more and more acutely toward the end of her life. She bore it patiently and rarely complained. On Thursday, January 22, 2009, she died suddenly. In the Mt. Joseph beauty shop while having her hair fixed, she slipped into eternal life – a life without suffering.
Yes, we had warnings along the way. Sometimes, Joseph Ellen, you mentioned that you might be going soon. But you were so looking forward to your Jubilee. We, your companions at entrance, were going to get together for that event. You were looking forward to going in procession, all of us together, and of having our picture taken – together. Together was always your thing! You insisted on it. Whenever we were home for community meetings, you found some way to get us together for a picture or a meal. You were the glue who made sure we held together. Your pride in belonging with us caused us to see ourselves through your eyes – source of pride and happiness. Some of us have preceded you in death: Sisters Antoinette Ready and Veronica Roy. Those of us who were looking forward to being with you at our June celebration are: Sisters Virginia Pearl, Donna Otter, Anna Marie Broxterman, Nancy Meade, Pat McLennon, Faye Huelsman, Marcia Allen, Jean Befort, and Rosemary Farrell. Even without your physical presence we will keep up your tradition of being together, knowing as we do, that you will be closely monitoring us from your new place in our midst.
All of us Sisters of St. Joseph feel the loss of you, Sister Joseph Ellen. Your family grieves your death and yet they rejoice that you are no longer suffering; the healthcare personnel at Motherhouse and Mt. Joseph mourn your sudden disappearance; your adopted family and all of your friends are saddened by your leaving. To one another we offer our sympathy and comfort; and, we will continue to tell your story and delight in the memories that you have left with us. Your spirit of lively delight in life, your courage in difficulties, your generous heart will continue to sustain us. The memory of your presence among us will remain our mentor.
This evening we say your favorite prayer with gratitude, knowing that you are now living it: knowing that you are now living it:
“The favors of the Lord are not exhausted; God’s mercies are not spent. They are renewed each morning, so great is God’s faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3: 22-23)

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